This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Provo • BYU deserves to be in a one of college football's five power conferences more than any other school that currently is not in one, according to a survey of coaches conducted by ESPN's Brett McMurphy.
In the website's weekly college football poll called #1QFor128, BYU got 24 percent of the votes, edging out No. 2 East Carolina (21 percent) and No. 3 Boise State (19 percent). BYU travels to Boise State on Friday (7 p.m., ESPN) to take on the Broncos.
Cincinnati and Houston, the team BYU defeated 33-25 on Sept. 11, tied for fourth with 8 percent of the votes each.
Of the 128 coaches in the Football Bowl Subdivision, 94 voted in the poll, according to McMurphy.
BYU was easily the top choice of coaches in the Power 5 conferences, which are the Pac-12, Atlantic Coast, Big Ten, Big 12 and Southeastern conferences, garnering 30 percent of their votes to 16 percent for Boise State.
Coaches who are in non-power conferences called the Group of 5 conferences gave East Carolina 30 percent of their vote, followed by Boise State (22 percent) and BYU (20 percent).
Stewart careful
Senior Christian Stewart got his second straight start at quarterback for the Cougars. Of course, Stewart has replaced junior Taysom Hill, who suffered a fractured leg against Utah State on Oct. 3.
Former Jordan High quarterback McCoy Hill is now Stewart's backup. Because he was a tight end as a freshman and has never taken a Division I snap, coaches are naturally wary of having him play.
For that reason, and because of what happened to Hill, they've made it known to Stewart that he needs to avoid contact if at all possible.
"They haven't necessarily said, 'Hey, don't get hurt,'" Stewart said. "I think, at least to me, it is implied. Definitely they have encouraged the sliding, avoiding the hits, which is the way I play quarterback. I can't take the hits that Taysom can. He's 35 pounds heavier than I am. That's just the way I want to play football, is get rid of the ball quickly, get down when I am in the open field. I am probably not going to run over people or jump over people, but that's fine. That's the way I play football."
Back to earth
Remember how Central Florida quarterback Justin Holman had a career outing against BYU last week, completing 30 of 51 passes for 326 yards? Well, he didn't fare nearly as well on Saturday against Tulane in UCF's 20-13 win.
Holman went 9 of 17 for 113 yards and a touchdown, with two interceptions, against the Green Wave.