Provo • After a week of speculation regarding who would be BYU’s starting quarterback for Friday’s game against Boise State, Tanner Mangum turned out to be the answer.
The junior from Eagle, Idaho, warmed up with his left ankle heavily taped, and took a snap for the first time since the final play against Utah on Sept. 9. He guided the Cougars to a touchdown on their first possession.
Coach Kalani Sitake told KSL Radio before the game that Mangum “practiced basically all week” and “progressively got better.”
Mangum had the protective boot on his left foot during the traditional Cougar Walk as the players entered the stadium, but left it in the locker room 90 minutes before the game, which was pushed back to an 8:26 p.m. starting time.
Beau Hoge, who suffered a concussion last week, did not dress for the game.
Injured linebacker Butch Pau’u (wrist) was replaced in the starting lineup by sophomore Johnny Tapusoa and converted receiver Grant Jones started in the place of Matt Hadley. Jones made an interception on the fourth play of the game and the Cougars turned the possession into a 48-yard drive for a touchdown.
The Cougars got a favorable replay review on the drive when it was ruled that tight end Matt Bushman was down before the ball came out and Boise State made a clear recovery.
Bye, bye
Boise State was coming off a bye last weekend and had almost two weeks to prepare for the Cougars. But it doesn’t get any easier for BYU, which had a bye before it lost to Utah State last week. Next week’s BYU opponent, Mississippi State, has a bye this weekend. Another BYU opponent, San Jose State, will have a bye before it plays the Cougars on Oct. 28.
BYU went 2-1 against teams coming off byes in 2016, losing to West Virginia and defeating Toledo and UMass.
Briefly
BYU’s alumni flags were carried out by Mitchell and Garrett Juergens, Hala Paongo and Travis Uale (2008-11). Steve Ballard was the American flag bearer. … Handsome Tanielu, Brayden El Bakri and Micah Hannemann brought out the team flags. … Scouts from the Seattle Seahawks, Green Bay Packers, Baltimore Ravens, Chicago Bears, New York Giants, New England Patriots, Atlanta Falcons and Washington had seats reserved in the press box. … Temperature at kickoff was 50 degrees.