This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
Orlando, Fla.
Max Hall and Brian Johnson may have spoiled everyone. In different ways, so have Jake Heaps, Jon Hays and Darell Garretson.
Using a fill-in quarterback has become standard practice in the state's college football programs in this decade, after Hall started all 39 of BYU's games from 2007-09 and Johnson quarterbacked the Utes throughout a 13-0 season in 2008.
By the end of the 2014 season, the established starters for BYU, Utah and Utah State collectively will have appeared in fewer than two-thirds of the games over five years, with absences due to injury. That's not counting performance-based switches, including Utah's likely promotion of Kendal Thompson over Travis Wilson.
But here's the thing, as BYU's Christian Stewart prepares for his first start Thursday night at Central Florida in place of Taysom Hill: The replacements have done some very nice work. Their teams' seasons haven't crumbled, so there's no excuse for BYU.
"You never want to start at someone else's expense … but for me, this is my dream," Stewart said.
BYU can't ask Stewart to resemble the phenomenal Taysom Hill of 2014. Expecting him to play like Hill did in 2012 is not unreasonable, though. And there are success stories at every school lately.
Even the much-maligned, much-traveled Heaps thrived as a BYU freshman in 2010 after Riley Nelson was injured, salvaging a season that ended with a bowl win. Heaps lost his job to Nelson in 2011, but won another spot start before transferring to Kansas, and then Miami. In 2012, Hill and James Lark each won two games when Nelson was hurt.
Garretson, who has followed Chuckie Keeton as USU's quarterback for two seasons in a row, is 7-2 as a starter, including Friday's 35-20 win at BYU. Adam Kennedy filled in for Keeton in 2011 and took the Aggies to a bowl game.
Kennedy rescued USU's victory at Hawaii after Keeton was hurt in the first half and then won the last four-regular-season games, giving the Aggies their first bowl bid in 14 years. Last season, after Keeton was injured against BYU, Garretson was activated from redshirt status at halftime of the next game (replacing Craig Harrison) and went 6-1 as a starter. He lost to Fresno State in the Mountain West championship game, then beat Northern Illinois in the Poinsettia Bowl.
For all of Keeton's ability, Utah State is 19-11 (.633) with him and 11-4 (.733) without him over parts of four seasons. That's a tribute to Kennedy and Garretson, who were ready to perform, and partly a function of a more favorable schedule.
"You coach 'em in a way that they're one play away, and they're one turned ankle getting off the bus away, or something happens in the game, or a guy being ineffective or any of those scenarios," said USU coach Matt Wells, who worked with the Aggie quarterbacks in 2011.
In nearly every case, the recent replacements at the three schools played about half of the previous game with mixed results before becoming the starters. That's happened both years with Garretson. Stewart completed 10 of 29 passes for 173 yards with three interceptions in the second half Friday against USU.
Hays eventually produced four straight Pac-12 wins, plus a bowl victory, for Utah after replacing Jordan Wynn in 2011.
He came through for the Utes after arriving to fill a desperate need for a backup quarterback, having become available when Nebraska-Omaha dropped its Division II football program in the spring. With a basic, run-oriented offensive scheme, Hays beat Oregon State, UCLA, Arizona and Washington State in Pac-12 play. He also topped Georgia Tech in the Sun Bowl after forcing overtime with two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter.
So it can be done, as unlikely as some of these stories seem. Now, here comes Stewart. When the Cougars hosted Idaho State last November, Stewart was among four quarterbacks who appeared in the game. Since then, Ammon Olsen transferred to Southern Utah, Billy Green moved to Weber State and Hill was injured. Stewart is the only one left.
Twitter: @tribkurt —
The replacements
Records for quarterbacks who replaced an established starter, due to injury, beginning in 2010:
Player, school Years Record
Taysom Hill, BYU 2012 2-0
James Lark, BYU 2012 2-0
Adam Kennedy, Utah State 2011 4-1
Darell Garretson, Utah State 2013-14 7-2
Terrance Cain, Utah 2010 2-1
Jake Heaps, BYU 2010-11 7-4
Jon Hays, Utah 2011-12 7-5
Travis Wilson, Utah 2012 3-4
Adam Schulz, Utah 2013 1-2
Craig Harrison, Utah State 2013 0-1