Jake Heaps could join rare QB company

PROVO — Whether or not the "Jake Heaps Era" is officially under way at BYU, his first extended, non-rotational playing experience at Florida State resulted in him joining some exclusive company. With his scoring toss in the second quarter against the Seminoles, Heaps became only the fourth BYU QB to throw a touchdown pass in his first season out of high school, and the first since Drew Miller in 1997.

Getting an early start on his BYU playing career gives Heaps the chance to etch his name among the all-time Cougar greats, assuming a three- or four-year career and with the presumption that performance matches his advance billing.

Only three BYU signal-callers have passed for 10,000 yards or more, and not surprisingly, they are also 1-2-3 in games started. Ty Detmer (15,031 career passing yards) started 40 games at BYU, while Max Hall (11,365) and John Beck (11,021) each started 39 games apiece.

It remains overlooked by many that the majority of BYU's All-American QBs didn't receive meaningful and substantial playing time until they had been in the program for a couple of years. Of Cougar greats Gifford Nielsen, Marc Wilson, Jim McMahon, Steve Young and Robbie Bosco, only McMahon started as many as 30 games, or the equivalent of roughly two-and-a-half seasons. Who won more games as a starting quarterback at BYU: Steve Young or Kevin Feterik? The answer, as you might have guessed by now, is Feterik, a three-year starter in the late '90s.

Of the three BYU QBs in the "10,000 Club," two of them played as freshmen, and neither had successful debuts.

Coming off a redshirt season in 1987, Detmer spelled an injured Sean Covey in the season-opener at Wyoming in 1988. The future Heisman Trophy winner went 9-for-26, with one touchdown, four interceptions and five sacks. Thankfully for Detmer, the Internet and its message boards were still years away.

Beck did not have the benefit of a redshirt season but was a return missionary rookie when he took an early series in the lid-lifter with Georgia Tech in 2003. I called that game, and remember to this day the tragicomic nature of the first three snaps of his BYU career. They went like this:

1st and 10: Beck sacked for a loss of 10 yards.

2nd and 20: Beck pressured and fumbles, recovered by BYU for a loss of five yards.

3rd and 25: Beck throws his first college pass, which is summarily intercepted.

Welcome to the big-time, kid.