Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
PROVO — Maybe BYU coach Kalani Sitake was going to name a starter, or just maybe he’s still being coy.
He doesn’t want to keep the Cougars starting quarterback a secret — not from fans, from the press, or even from Navy before BYU’s Sept. 7 opener against the Midshipmen.
So whether he thought about the question or not, or whether he was going to announce something that he didn’t, he didn’t say anything groundbreaking when conversation changed during the Cougars’ final week of fall camp to the “quarterback competition.”
“They’re close to naming one,” Sitake said, referring to offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes and quarterbacks coach Aaron Roderick. “When we’re ready to do it, we’ll have it out there.
“I think the guys have done a really good job.
“I feel good about four quarterbacks that are ready to play for us right now.”
Sitake did name two starters Tuesday, but Jake Oldroyd at placekicker and Ryan Rehkow at punter won’t draw many headlines.
As training approached its fifth week, and with 13 days remaining before the Cougars’ season opener at Navy, time has been on BYU’s side for that decision.
The reality is, the decision’s public availability might not matter. Should Sitake and Grimes make a decision on who starts, with three proven quarterbacks on the roster? Should that decision be known to fans or the media?
Zach Wilson is the overwhelming favorite to enter his second season as the full-time starter, having been in that position since midway through his freshmen year. The junior signal caller from Corner Canyon has a career 64% completion percentage for 3,960 yards and 23 touchdowns with 12 interceptions, and he’s also run for 388 yards and five scores with his legs.
Most around the program believe it would be an upset if Wilson isn’t named the start. But just like in college football, upsets happen — and BYU’s situation could be primed for one.
There’s Jaren Hall, the redshirt sophomore who prepped at Maple Mountain, became the first Black starting quarterback in BYU football history, and also moonlights in the outfield for the BYU baseball team. Standing 6-foot-1 and 205 pounds, Hall looks like a prototypical BYU quarterback, and when he’s been healthy he threw for 420 yards and a touchdown during an injury-curtailed redshirt freshman campaign.
But the son of former BYU star Kalin Hall has also struggled with injuries during his time in Provo, including head injuries. That led to the emergence of 6-foot-2, 195-pound redshirt sophomore Baylor Romney a year ago.
A product of the Mormon Colonies in Mexico, Romney originally signed with Nevada prior to a two-year church mission in California. He then followed his younger brother Gunner to Provo, where he married his wife Elise, an All-American pole vaulter on the track and field team.
In Romney’s first collegiate start, he threw for 221 yards and two touchdowns in a 28-25 upset of then-No. 14 Boise State. In four games, Romney has thrown for 747 yards, seven touchdowns and two interceptions.
All three quarterbacks have experience, and all three have won games at the Division I level. The wild card in the race could be Sol-Jay Maiava-Peters, the freshman from Hau’ula, Hawaii who was the No. 23 dual-threat quarterback in the country by 247 Sports before leading St. John’s College High in Washington, D.C. to a 9-1 record and No. 13 national ranking in 2018.
“They’re just experienced. There’s experience across the board,” BYU receiver Neil Pau’u said. “It’s exciting to see them come out every day.”
In games where Hall or Romney featured prominently, BYU was 3-2 in 2019. When Wilson started in that same year, the Cougars went 4-5 — but only two of those losses came by more than 10 points, and those two were against then-No. 14 Utah and then-No. 21 Washington.
Besides Boise State, Romney’s wins as a starter came against Utah State and Liberty.
In theory, he should at least have one vote for the full-time job.
But his younger brother played the political game well.
“Baylor’s my brother, but when you get on the field, you don’t really have any relationships,” Gunner Romney said. “I just want the quarterback who is going to be the best out there, whoever is going to get the receivers the ball. The quarterbacks are all doing an amazing job right now, splitting up reps pretty much equally. But right now, I think they are all taking advantage of their reps and they are all tearing it up.”
