This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Provo • From the moment senior Taysom Hill informed Kalani Sitake that he planned to apply for an NCAA medical hardship waiver and return to the BYU football team for a fifth season in 2016, the rookie head coach knew he could have a quarterback controversy on his hands.

He probably didn't realize it would come this quickly, however.

Three games into the season, with the Cougars sitting at 1-2 and coming off another lackluster offensive performance in Saturday's 17-14 loss to UCLA, cries from the BYU faithful for Sitake to replace Hill with sophomore Tanner Mangum are growing louder and louder.

"When you have a great quarterback that is backing up another one, that always becomes the issue," Sitake said.

Problem is, Hill has not been playing like a great quarterback, the fifth-year senior and Sitake agreed in a somber postgame interview room late Saturday night. Both said BYU's defense played well enough to get a win over the 2-1 Bruins, but the offense faltered.

Counting an interception and the blocked field goal at the end of the first half, BYU had eight possessions of three plays or fewer.

One of the biggest cheers of the night, laced with sarcasm, perhaps, came late in the second quarter when BYU picked up its third first down, ending a streak of five three-and-outs.

"Yeah, it was frustrating," Sitake said. "They had a great game plan, but we weren't able to make plays and be more balanced. So that is something we need to work on. Offensively, we've got to get going. I am just trying to be patient with it, but we keep running out of time. That's gotta be clicking this week."

This week, the Cougars travel to the Washington, D.C., area to take on West Virginia at FedEx Field on Saturday (1:30 p.m., ESPN2). The Mountaineers (2-0) had a bye last week after knocking off Missouri 26-11 in their opener and Youngstown State 38-21 in Week 2.

Who will start at quarterback for BYU?

Sitake said the coaching staff "talked about" making the switch at halftime after falling behind 10-0 and getting just 79 yards on 38 plays, but decided against it.

"We felt like we would give Taysom some more chances, and keep it going," Sitake said. "We didn't want to disrupt the timing and we said Taysom is our quarterback, you know? So we will evaluate everything, just like we do every week."

In fairness, there's plenty of blame to go around for an offense that has averaged just 17 points a game and ranks 119th in the country in scoring. Ty Detmer's attack with Hill under center is 105th in total offense, averaging a meager 338.7 yards per game.

Hill has completed just 68 of 116 passes for a 58.6 percentage that ranks him 72nd in the country. An offensive line that has been without two projected starters — Kyle Johnson and Brad Wilcox — from before the first game and three-year starter Ului Lapuaho against UCLA, when the Cougars mustered just 23 rushing yards, has been dominated the past two games.

Inexperienced receivers have been unable to shake man-press coverage, and have dropped catchable passes at an alarming rate.

"I felt like [UCLA] was well-prepared," Hill said. "I felt like they had answers for the stuff that we were trying to do offensively, and we had difficulty getting off man-press a little bit. We have to clean that up.. … We need to run the ball [better]. It is tough on an offensive line when guys can just tee off on you, knowing you are going to pass."

Sitake said the excuse that the Cougars are breaking in a new offense is no longer valid.

"We have got to be way better," he said. "So that's the goal, and we gotta get it done. I have a lot of confidence in Ty, and the talent he has to work with."

Visibly frustrated after the loss, Hill was uncharacteristically short with a couple of his answers, saying "I dunno" when asked why receivers are dropping passes, and "I agree" when asked for a response to Sitake's no-excuses claim about the new offense.

"I mean, losing is never a good thing," Hill said. "I felt like we had a good week of preparation, but we didn't execute the way we should have, nor well enough to win the football game. We will start tomorrow breaking down the film, and making sure we make necessary corrections."

drew@sltrib.com Twitter: @drewjay —

West Virginia vs. BYU

P At Landover, Md. Saturday, 1:30 p.m. MDT

TV • ESPN2 or ESPNU