During a game the average fan hardly notices him, but Mohammed Elewonibi, BYU's 6-foot-4, 300-pound guard, is drawing rave reviews from National Football League scouts.
For instance, this is what Cincinnati Bengals scout Frank Uible had to say about Elewonibi after watching him play against Utah State:"It's too bad only a few people here today realize what a great game he's played. I don't see all the great college players, but I see a lot of them, and he's as good as any offensive lineman I've seen in five years. We probably won't be drafting high enough to get him. I'll be surprised if he survives past the top 10 selections."
And to think the 6-foot-4, 300-pound Elewonibi, who lived half his life in Nigeria before settling in Canada, never played high school football.
The pro scouts have also shown serious interest in linebackers Chad Robinson and Bob Davis.
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DETMER vs. MITCHELL: UTEP Coach David Lee has faced BYU's Ty Detmer and Utah's Scott Mitchell this season, and he has this to say about the quarterbacks: "Detmer doesn't have the arm Mitchell does, but Detmer is more dangerous because of his ability to scramble and make things happen when the play breaks down.
"Who would I rather face? I won't comment on that."
By the way, Detmer has a shot at Mitchell's national record for passing yardage by a sophomore. After eight games, Detmer has thrown for 3,071 yards, which leaves him 1,251 yards shy of Mitchell's mark of 4,322 set last year. What's more, Detmer could break the national single-season record for passing yardage, period. He needs 1,500 yards to reach Jim McMahon's mark of 4,571 set in 1980. Detmer needs to average 375 yards in BYU's remaining four games to break the record - which is less than his current average of 384.
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POST-MORTEM: Recalling last week's shocking 56-14 loss to Hawaii, BYU Coach LaVell Edwards says, "I'm sure everyone's got a reason (for the loss). I've already gotten a half-dozen suggestions in the form of unsigned letters."
But if you're thinking of writing, don't. "When something like that happens, you can drive yourself nuts trying to analyze it. Obviously, it wasn't the real BYU. I met with the team and told them I'd leave it up to them to come up with their own reasons, and if they found something amiss to take care of it."
el3
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NATIONAL STATS: Despite last week's big loss, Ty Detmer continues to lead the nation in pass efficiency, with a rating of 167.6 - up .2 from last week. Virginia's Shawn Moore is a distant second, at 157.3. Detmer also is No. 2 in total offense (367.9/game) behind Houston's Andre Ware (405.3). BYU ranks No. 2 in pass offense (397.5) behind Houston (524) and No. 3 in total offense (at 517.8) behind Houston (650!) and Nebraska.
So far this season Detmer has completed 179 of 283 passes (.633 percent) for 3,071 yards, 18 touchdowns, 11 interceptions. Incredibly, he's averaging 10.85 yards per attempt.
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QUARTERBACK BLUES: Like BYU, Stanford has seen its quarterback performances decline in recent years; unlike BYU, Stanford has not resolved the situation this year.
The Cardinal, which has produced six national passing champions and the likes of Jim Plunkett, John Brodie, Frankie Albert, Guy Benjamin, and more, hasn't had a great quarterback since John Elway graduated.
Brian Billick, Stanford's receiver coach and a former assistant at BYU and Utah State, wonders why.
"How many years has it been since we've had a dominant quarterback?" he asked recently in an article in the San Jose Mercury News.
"Yet you ask the common man to name Quarterback U's, (he's) going to say BYU, maybe San Diego State and somewhere in there they're going to say Stanford. That shows the strength of the Stanford tradition."
Billick also wonders, "How does Scott Mitchell, who has the grades, not go to Stanford? I just don't understand. How do you lose him to Utah?"
Searching for the means to rebuild Stanford's quarterback tradition, Mercury News writer John Akers writes of the BYU program, "Those close to BYU say the Cougars fell off course because a quarterback coach was never hired to replace Holmgren, who departed in 1985. (Robbie) Bosco was hired this season (as a graduate assistant); coincidentally, Ty Detmer is averaging 404 yards passing."