Door still open for Harvey Unga to return to BYU

PROVO — They are respecting their departed star, Harvey Unga.

Whatever his issue that led to his withdrawal from BYU last week, his teammates are keeping themselves in reserve and quiet, not knowing if his departure is final or just temporary.

And that's how it should be.

This is "finals week" on campus and BYU football players are scattered to the four winds finishing work on the winter semester. Although Unga withdrew from school, he too, is in the process of completing his final tests this week, neatly tucking away more credits toward graduation.

So, is he coming back to play football someday?

Nobody can say because of the way in which Unga faced his honor code infraction and took the public humiliation over the weekend. His teammates are in a state of stasis, mouths closed, because they don't know when or if Unga will return.

The person who could benefit most from Unga's departure — if he doesn't return — is junior Bryan Kariya.

You may remember this guy. He came out of nowhere last September when Unga joined the ranks of half a dozen victims of hamstring pulls. He got his first collegiate start in the toughest of circumstances — against No. 3 Oklahoma, on national TV, in Jerry Jones' new palace.

No pressure for Kariya. All he did was excel. He gained 42 yards on 17 carries and caught 76 yards worth of passes in an offense designed to get the ball to a pair of senior tight ends. Nobody from the University of Texas rushed for that many yards against the Sooner defense. Not Tre' Newton, who missed the OU game, not Cody Johnson (31 yards) or Vondrell McGee (2 yards).

The next week, Kariya gained 63 yards on 12 carries against Tulane in New Orleans, and scatback JJ Di Luigi, another candidate to step up in Unga's absence, had 71 yards rushing.

On Monday, Kariya refused an interview on his situation in wake of Friday's announcement. While it messed with this column, I liked the move; it showed his loyalty. Kariya didn't want to assume he had inherited a role that was not officially his until the two-deep chart for the season-opening Washington game is posted, because it would look, well, presumptuous.

I believe some of the other running backs would react the same: Di Luigi, Malosi Te'o, Josh Quezada, Mike Hague, Zed Mendenhall and David Foote.