PROVO — In special ceremonies at Saturday's BYU-Arizona football game at LaVell Edwards Stadium, the No. 14 jersey worn by the likes of former Cougars Margin Hooks, Tom Young, Jeff Wilcox and Virgil Carter will be retired by the university's athletic department.
Some 23 BYU players have sported the "14" during the past half-century, with quarterback Ron Startin closing out the final three 1950s seasons and current senior safety Corby Hodgkiss having worn the jersey number since 2005 and will continue to do so through the end of '07.
Oh, and the former No. 14s included a couple of guys named Gifford Nielsen and Ty Detmer.
OK, so the ceremonies are in fact to honor the latter two, a pair of record-setting, aerial-minded All-American quarterbacks who have BYU's prerequisite accolades to earn jersey-retirement honors.
And while most long-time Cougar football fans will associate the uniform number with those two, a couple dozen other former players and their families and friends will be able to look up at the pressbox-front display inside Edwards Stadium and say "that was my number."
Nielsen and Detmer are just two products of the Cougars storied "Quarterback Factory," which some date back to another 14-adorned signal caller — Carter, who set a half-dozen NCAA records as well as a bevy of school and Western Athletic Conference marks.
So while in the minds of many fans, BYU's 14 is seen as a quarterback number. But the number has been worn by nine quarterbacks and eight defensive backs during the past five decades, with DBs outnumbering the QBs 7-4 since the start of the 1980s.
Other positions players sporting the 14 uniform include two wide receivers, a kicker, a kicker-to-be and a trio of early '60s wingbacks.
With nearly half (11) of the 23 hailing from Utah, players have also come from Connecticut to California and even Canada. But since Detmer arrived in 1988 as a freshman pass-slinger from San Antonio, there have been five players from the Lone Star State to since wear the blue-and-white 14 compared to three from instate.
Nielsen and Detmer are two of the three former Cougars who had four-season strangleholds on the No. 14 jersey — the third is Kevin Walker, a defensive back from Salt Lake City who never merited a photo in the annual BYU football media guides from 1979 to 1982 but who enjoyed as much uniform tenure at 14 as did his two more recognizable counterparts.
Six Cougars wore their 14 for three years and one player for just two, while 13 wore the soon-to-be-retired number for a single season during their collegiate careers.
In recent seasons, where players in the program exceed the availability of single- and double-digit jersey numbers, BYU's No. 14 has been doubled up and given to one offensive player and one defensive player.
The first instance came in 2002, when second-year quarterback Todd Mortensen and freshman defensive back Kellen Fowler shared No. 14 honors before the latter switched to No. 21 the following year.
Joining Mortensen at the numerical roster's 14 spot in the next season was Jared McLaughlin, a freshman defensive back who later changed numbers (to No. 30) as well as positions (placekicker).
The final double-14 season was 2004, featuring a pair of freshmen — Orem DB Adam Nelson and Texas wideout Antwaun Harris.
No one wore the No. 14 uniform for a half-dozen seasons from 1967 through 1972, with Salt Lake City senior quarterback Stewart Simpson donning the jersey number in '68. The number was absent as well in 1978, 1983, 1987 and 1997.
And after this season, it won't be worn again at BYU.
Fifty years of BYU football's No. 14
season(s) — player, position, hometown
2005-07 — Corby Hodgkiss, DB, Irving, Texas
2004 — Antwauh Harris, WR, Garland, Texas
2004 — Adam Nelson, DB, Orem
2003 — Jared McLaughlin, DB, Wetumpka, Ala.
2002 — Kellen Fowler, DB, Kaysville
2001-03 — Todd Mortensen, QB, Tempe, Ariz.
1998-2000 — Margin Hooks, WR, Waco, Texas
1996 — Chris Bisgaard, QB, Flint Ridge, Calif.
1995 — Derick Bates, DB, Temple, Texas
1993-94 — Tom Young, QB, Greenwich, Conn.
1992 — Jeff Lindstrom, DB, Provo
1988-91 — Ty Detmer, QB, San Antonio
1984-86 — Jeff Wilcox, DB, Midvale
1979-82 — Kevin Walker, DB, Salt Lake City
1974-77 — Gifford Nielsen, QB, Provo
1973 — Doug Cook, K, Las Vegas
1968 — Stewart Simpson, QB, Salt Lake City
1964-66 — Virgil Carter, QB, Provo
1963 — Bill Wylie, WB, Calgary, Canada
1962 — Gene Franz, WB, Salt Lake City
1961 — Bruce Samples, WB, Ogden
1960 — Ron Dike, QB, Nampa, Idaho
1957-59 — Ron Startin, QB, Murray
E-mail: taylor@desnews.com