"I couldn't be more happy for him and the way he played," said quarterback coach Brandon Doman.

While Gaskins will be the backup entering fall camp, incoming freshman Jason Munns could also challenge for the position in August.

The shocking end to Cooper's spring underscored a point Doman has preached to the quarterbacks all winter and spring.

"I preach to these guys, when preparation meets opportunity it equals success. If they're not prepared when they get an opportunity, they won't have success. Brenden didn't get hardly any reps during spring, but when he got the chance, he knew what he was doing, knew where the defenders were, made good decisions, marched us down the field and got scores. It showed that he listened, studied and learned."

Hall, said Doman, moved the offense, chose the right targets most of the time and had a pleasing performance Saturday aside from throwing an interception when at the goal line.

With Hall, Cooper, Gaskins and Sam Doman all rookies this spring, coach Doman said the group actually performed better than his expectations going into spring drills a month ago.

"It's been better than I thought it would be," Doman said. "Now, they've got a long ways to go, but I was very pleased with how many passes they completed. We turned the ball over more than I wanted to see in spring, but I think it was reasonable in comparison to where they are in their careers. Now they know the offense, I hope they come back from spring and in the summer don't make those mistakes."

BYU conducted more reps in 11-on-11 team scrimmages this spring than a year ago and scored 25 touchdowns in those situations compared to 19 a year ago. The big difference, however, was the offense with veteran senior John Beck had only eight turnovers, and this spring the Cougars had 13.

"But any time you can have a two touchdown to one turnover ratio with new quarterbacks, you should be happy," said Doman. "That's the way it has started. We want to cut it down to three to one when we get to the fall."

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E-mail: dharmon@desnews.com