BYU Cougars College Football Pregame Quote, 10/28/2019

On the bye week:

We put in some good work last week and we got an early start on Utah State. We’re going to have another full practice today and then we’ll be ready to roll. The guys had some rest over the weekend with not playing on Saturday and they caught up on academics so we’re ready to go today.

On the quarterback situation:

It’s looking promising for us. I think Jaren will be okay to play this week, but we’ll see. Zach is progressing really well, but it’s doubtful he’ll play this game, but it’s a day-to-day thing for him. Once he’s able to throw the ball, we’ll wait and see how he progresses, but he’s ahead of schedule when it comes to his injury.

On how they’ll decide if Jaren Hall or Baylor Romney will start on Saturday:

It’ll be about competition and seeing who gives us the best opportunity to win; that’s what it comes down to. We’ll be practicing and they’ll both get turns at the one’s and two’s so we’ll see who can make their group function better.

On injured players coming back to their spot or losing it:

It all depends on when he comes back. When an injured player returns, are they 100 percent? The only way to tell is to put them through competition. If you could, you would forget about what they’ve done and how good they were when they won the spot, but you also can’t discount the fact that other players have gotten better too. The only way to do it is to compete and we’ll see who plays and does the best. It doesn’t really matter from week one or throughout the season, if someone beats someone out, we’ll make a change, and that goes for every position.

On the strength of the offense:

We have some momentum going forward and I think they’ve been able to respond to some new guys getting the opportunity to play. I’ve been really impressed with the depth. You hate testing your depth, but you know going into the season that you’ll be tested in different spots, and I’ve been impressed with the coaches and the way they’ve been able to organize a game plan. You see how our players are executing it and how others are stepping up. I think that’s been a huge strength for us.

On what position is the deepest in terms of depth:

We took four offensive linemen out, so offensive line is pretty good when you can take out half the group. I’m impressed with them. Looking at the running back position and what AJ Steward and Jeff Grimes have done with them has been nice as well as with the quarterback position. Anytime you go to your third-string guys and you’re still able to do well and have a good performance like we did against an undefeated ranked team, I think that’s a sign.

On the game against Utah State:

The last game Utah State played was a little difficult to watch because the elements disrupted a lot of the throwing that Jordan Love could do and I think Air Force just took them out of the game with their possession of the ball. I thought that was a good game plan for Air Force, but for us it’s a different beast because they’re at home. They play really well at home and they’re capable of putting up a lot of points, so our defense will have to be on top of things. I’m glad we got a week to prepare for them and that we had another game week of film. We’re going to utilize all that and try to get ready for a good performance up in Logan. I’m looking forward to the game.