Youth movement: 4 freshmen will join team this fall with eye on filling future void at QB

PROVO — With senior John Beck firmly entrenched as the starter, BYU's spring practices concluded without a hint of a quarterback controversy.

Stay tuned, though — one is looming this fall.

Not that anyone is going to unseat Beck — a first-team all-Mountain West Conference performer who has thrown for 7,136 yards and 47 touchdowns in three seasons and is being promoted by the school's media relations department as an all-America candidate — but the race for the backup job will be an intriguing subplot when fall camp opens in August.

That's when four freshmen join the Cougars — Arizona State transfer Max Hall; returning missionaries Jacob Bower and Sam Doman; and Pine View High star James Lark.

None of the four participated in spring ball, but each will be given the opportunity to compete for the No. 2 spot against current second-stringer Jason Beck at fall camp.

Here's the dilemma for BYU: Jason Beck, like John Beck, is a senior; Cougar coaches are looking for an heir apparent for the 2007 season, so they'll be holding auditions for a quarterback who can contribute in the near future.

"Those players are all coming in knowing that that's what they're coming in to do," said BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall. "I'm sure each is preparing as diligently as they can. That battle will shape out step by step. It's going to be a fierce one."

If possible, the coaches would like to give at least one of those four freshmen a chance to play some in 2006 so the Cougars don't go into the 2007 season bereft of experience at that position.

"We'll try to find out early in fall who our third-string quarterback is going to be," said quarterbacks coach Brandon Doman. "I'm not 100 percent sure I want to figure that out. That will be a lot of our conversation. Once we figure out who that third-string quarterback is, I'm going to let him compete with Jason for the backup job.

"If he beats Jason out, then he'll be the backup," Doman continued. "But Jason's playing really well right now. Somehow, at the end of the game, unless he's redshirting, we want to get (one of the freshmen) some exposure and a chance to play. He might have to be the quarterback the next year. We're going to let those guys hammer at each other and see who becomes the guy."

Coaches admit it will be difficult for one of the newcomers — while Hall redshirted at ASU, the others will be true freshmen — to overtake Jason Beck on the depth chart. "(Jason Beck) has been here a number of years, rather than just one," Mendenhall said. "He is familiar with the system, he's familiar with the expectations, he's familiar with college life, he's familiar with this place. All those things can't be underestimated."