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Provo • Even for the so-called Quarterback Factory at BYU, preseason camp in August of 2012 was an embarrassment of riches.
Former five-star recruit Jake Heaps had become the wayward son the previous winter, moving his never-realized potential to Kansas, but the BYU Cougars had no fewer than six scholarship quarterbacks on their roster — Riley Nelson, James Lark, Jason Munns, Ammon Olsen, Taysom Hill and Alex Kuresa.
Another highly touted QB recruit, Tanner Mangum, was there as well, but he decided to grayshirt (pay his own way, without his NCAA eligibility "clock" starting) that fall and leave on a two-year church mission the following year. He left for Chile in July of 2013.
Fast forward to 2014. The scene in 2012 when there literally weren't enough footballs in camp for every quarterback wearing a green "don't-hit-me" jersey is a far cry from what BYU's quarterback situation looks like heading into Saturday's 5 p.m. game at LaVell Edwards Stadium against UNLV.
When Heisman Trophy candidate Hill suffered a fractured leg on Oct. 3 against Utah State, BYU was left with nary a single healthy scholarship QB on its roster, unless you count two-time walk-on Christian Stewart, a senior who was awarded grant-in-aid in June when Olsen returned to Southern Utah and 2013 signee Billy Green transferred to Weber State.
Although Stewart has played as well as could be expected in a difficult situation, BYU's quarterback cupboard is as bare as it ever been.
"I think [Stewart] has played well enough to give us a chance in every game that he's been a starter," BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said.
Yet, the overall situation appears grim.
If Stew, as his teammates call him, goes down in one of BYU's final four games, he will be replaced by another walk-on, 6-foot-6 McCoy Hill. The catch is that this big Hill (no relation to Taysom), despite throwing for 3,502 yards and 30 touchdowns and running for 19 more TDs at Sandy's Jordan High, didn't have any scholarship offers out of high school and was a walk-on tight end in 2011 before a church mission to McAllen, Texas. Freshman walk-ons Hayden Griffitts and Hunter Moore are now third and fourth on the quarterback depth chart.
The Cougars didn't sign a quarterback last February for the first year since 2009, when Heaps was a junior in high school.
They did announce that McCoy Hill was returning as a quarterback. But teammates say the former Beetdigger didn't get a single snap in preseason camp, or in practice, until after Taysom Hill got injured.
"He's capable of taking over some parts of the offense, but It might be a multiple-threat approach we would have to do to give us enough scoring power," Mendenhall said when asked if the redshirt freshman was capable of running the show. "The training he's gotten the last few weeks has certainly been helpful, but it wouldn't be conventional [offense] if we got to that point."
Who would comprise that multiple-threat?
"Who knows," Mendenhall said, sighing. "Who knows."
Since that 2012 camp — coaches picked Nelson to be the opening-day starter when Taysom Hill should have been tabbed, in hindsight — Nelson, Lark and Munns graduated, the latter without ever attempting a pass in five years in Provo, while Kuresa was moved to receiver and has since transferred to Snow College, where he had led the Badgers to a 7-2 record heading into Saturday night's WSFL playoff game.
Of course, Olsen is now starting for SUU and Billy Green, a lightly-recruited signee in 2013 who didn't impress anyone in Provo before burning his redshirt year with a couple plays against Idaho State last year, is starting for Weber State. Ironically, UNLV's starting quarterback, Blake Decker, walked on at BYU in 2009 out of the same high school in Arizona that produced former Cougar greats John Beck and Max Hall, but redshirted that year before a mission to Mexico.
Decker didn't return to Provo, instead heading for Scottsdale CC, where he threw for 4,241 yards and 47 touchdowns last year before signing with UNLV last February. Decker was 22-for-38 for 267 yards and three touchdowns against Utah State two weeks ago for the Rebels.
So the flawed Billy Green signing and the failure to sign a quarterback of any kind nine months ago have the Cougars in a predicament.
Mendenhall said he wants to sign one per year, moving forward.
"I would love to have a quarterback for every class, and I don't like to have two quarterbacks in the same class," he said. "I like a year of separation, so if we were to bring in two freshmen, I would love one to redshirt, one to play. I would like one each year if possible."
By most accounts, Taysom Hill is recovering well from his second major surgery and will obviously be the starter next season, if he's healthy. Mangum will return from Chile next summer and most likely battle former Missouri QB Trent Hosick to be Hill's backup. Hosick is playing this fall for Arizona Western College and has committed to transfer to BYU, but not yet signed.
The Cougars also have a commitment from prep star Kody Wilstead, but he is expected to go on a church mission immediately upon graduating from Pine View High in Saint George.
Twitter: @drewjay —
A QB factory short on parts
BYU quarterback signings and transfers Since 2008
2008 • Did not sign a quarterback
2009 • Did not sign a quarterback
2010 • Signed Jake Heaps out of Washington's Skyline High, but he transferred to Kansas in 2012 and is now finishing his career at Miami
2011 • Signed Alex Kuresa out of Mountain Crest High School, but moved him to receiver in 2012. Now starting QB for Snow College
2012 • Signed Stanford transfer Taysom Hill and SUU transfer Ammon Olsen after they served church missions, and Tanner Mangum out of Idaho's Eagle High School.
2013 • Signed Billy Green out of Washington's King's High School, but he transferred to Weber State in 2014
2014 • Did not sign a quarterback —
UNLV at BYU
Nov. 15, 5 p.m.
TV: ESPNU