Jaren Hall has been out for two weeks with a rib injury. Baylor Romney has started in place of Hall, but hit his head on the field pretty hard at Utah State and left the game at halftime. Jacob Conover took over, but is he ready to get a start and play for a full game?
Once again, No. 10 BYU is juggling its quarterbacks as it deals through injury and tries to find the best man to lead the Cougars out onto LaVell Edwards on Saturday when they host Boise State.
So, who is it?
A quick glance at this week’s depth chart, released Monday, has Hall as the starter, with Romney and Conover as backups. However, although he’s sat out the last two games, Hall has been listed as the starter the last couple of weeks.
During Monday’s press conference coach Kalani Sitake said all three quarterbacks were “in contention,” but it would come down to how they progress during this week’s practices.
On Wednesday, offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick was asked who’s been getting the most reps at quarterback. Roderick was quick to dodge the question.
“Nobody’s been ruled out,” Roderick said. “Jacob, Jaren, Baylor [and] Sol-Jay [Maiava-Peters are] all out there getting reps just like always. I will say Jaren’s closer than Baylor right now, but so far they haven’t told me that anybody can’t play.”
Roderick hopes to get one more good practice on Thursday and a decision will most likely be made after that.
While it was tough to figure out who was the best one for the job when all three were healthy and competing during fall camp, it’s a different type of problem when trying to figure out who’s the best candidate mid-season due to injury.
It can be tough for a team to prepare for a game when both the season starter and backup quarterback have gotten injured.
But Roderick said it’s not as hard as it seems. It’s just part of the job.
“We’re really not at the end of our rope right at this moment because it feels like we’re getting healthier, not less healthy,” Roderick said.
While the would-be starting quarterback is getting less reps because they’re divided up amongst more quarterbacks, the offense isn’t that concerned about how it could effect their performance on Saturday.
If anything, they’re more concerned about how Boise State will prepare for them.
“You get three different quarterbacks who are great at what they do, so it’ll be interesting to see what they game plan for,” wide receiver Puka Nacua said. “But it’ll be fun. I think all three guys, if they get out there, we’re confident in what they do, so it’ll be fun for sure.”
Regardless of who gets the start, the Cougars’ focus will continue to be getting another win and improving on the season.
“I think that we’ve had a significant amount of reps with each of those guys and that we’re confident to go into the game and do our thing no matter who’s back there,” offensive lineman Clark Barrington said.
