PROVO — Former BYU star Steve Young once said that it takes a quarterback at least two years to be comfortable with the Cougars' pass-happy style of offense.
"You could play before that," explained Young, who himself sat behind Jim McMahon for a couple of years before becoming BYU's starter, "but you'd be in a cloud."
More times than not the last two seasons, Cougar QBs have played, sure enough, like they were in a cloud.
Two freshmen quarterbacks — who also happened to be recently returned LDS Church missionaries — started 10 games for the Cougars in 2002 and 2003. The pair frequently suffered from clouded judgment and committed freshman mistakes. Not surprisingly, BYU's record in those 10 contests was 3-7.
For those two QBs, Matt Berry and John Beck, it's been a painful learning experience, literally and figuratively. Both sustained injuries to their throwing hands last season and both have survived their respective trials by fire. They are back, healthy and eager to prove they can jump-start the Cougar offense, which has sputtered the last two years.
"We're working hard at eliminating mistakes," Beck said. "I'm not perfect. None of us are. But we want to keep continuing to improve."
"Everyone's getting better," Berry said.
Beck, a sophomore, entered fall camp as the starter, with Berry, a junior, listed as the backup. Both quarterbacks have acquitted themselves well in practice, said coach Gary Crowton. Beck is expected to be taking the snaps when BYU opens the season Sept. 4 against Notre Dame.
Junior college transfer Jason Beck and junior Jackson Brown are also in the QB mix. Jason Beck threw for 2,052 yards and guided College of the Canyons to an 11-1 mark last season. He enrolled at BYU last winter and participated in spring drills. Brown, who began last season as a fourth-string walk-on, played significant minutes in BYU's season-finale loss to Utah.
Competition between the quarterbacks during fall camp has been intense. "We all want to be the starter and we all want to win," John Beck said. "It's competitive, but it's not mean-spirited. We all want the job."
Crowton says his quarterbacks have improved tremendously since last season.
"I see us with two experienced quarterbacks and that's going to help us. That position overall is much stronger this year," Crowton said. "I see the potential in these guys and that's positive. They have to do it in a game. If we have to go through four this year, our four will be more ready."
In his first season at BYU, Crowton was blessed with an experienced, and driven, quarterback at the helm of the offense — senior Brandon Doman. But when Doman departed for the NFL, Crowton more or less had to start over at that position. Bret Engemann, Lance Pendleton, Berry, Todd Mortensen, John Beck and Brown were shuffled on and off Crowton's quarterback carousel due to either injuries or ineffectiveness. The result? The Cougars posted back-to-back losing seasons.
What's refreshing for Crowton this year is he doesn't have to teach the basics at that crucial position.
"When you talk to them about football, you're not starting from opening the playbook and saying, 'This is our huddle. This is our snap count,"' Crowton said. "They know all these things now. What they do now is look at the defense. That's what's going to help them grow — when they start attacking what they see using our offense as a tool rather than trying to figure out how to use the tool. I think we're getting to that point. We're not there yet, but we're getting there."
Crowton hopes the clouds are gradually dissipating for his quarterbacks. He hopes they can see clearly now, with plenty of touchdowns, and victories, in their collective view.
E-mail: jeffc@desnews.com