PROVO — The prestigious mantle of being BYU’s starting quarterback was thrust upon freshman Tanner Mangum in the season opener at Nebraska.
Mangum stepped in for senior Taysom Hill, who was regarded as a dark horse Heisman Trophy candidate prior to Hill's season-ending foot injury against the Cornhuskers.
Since then, Mangum's experiences have run the gamut. Now he's leading the Cougars into their regular-season finale at Utah State Saturday (1:30 p.m., MST, CBSSN).
Mangum has thrown a couple of exhilarating, last-minute game-winning touchdowns that attracted national attention. He’s been on the wrong end of a 31-0 loss (with only 55 passing yards). He suffered a hamstring injury against East Carolina that he hasn’t fully recovered from. He threw a pick-six against San Jose State.
Along the way, he’s broken almost every freshman QB passing record at BYU, which previously belonged to Jake Heaps.
Mangum has set new freshman marks for completions (226), passing yards (2,778), passing touchdowns (17), wins (7), single-game completions (35) and single-game passing (365 yards). He’s only 223 yards away from eclipsing the 3,000-yard passing plateau.
What’s it been like for Mangum to take on the highest-profile position at a school with a high-profile quarterback tradition like BYU?
“More than anything, it’s humbling. It’s a very humbling experience. Ever since I was a kid I’ve dreamed of playing quarterback at BYU,” he said this week. “It’s been a dream of mine for a long time. Sometimes it feels surreal. It’s humbling to have this amazing privilege to play at a storied program and wear the ‘Y’ on my chest. It’s something pretty special. It’s something I’m trying to appreciate. It’s easy to get caught up in the grind. It’s hard work, but it’s fun.”
Mangum has progressed considerably since he returned from his LDS mission in Chile in June and participated in fall camp in August.
“You really see the maturity grow with him. It’s a confidence level as well. We really see it in his eyes,” said wide receiver Mitchell Juergens. “He knows every time we step on the field that we’re going to make things happen. We’ve been able to build a lot of chemistry with Tanner. It’s a comfortable feeling to be out there with him, knowing that we can move the ball against anybody. It takes everyone doing their particular role and when we do that, we know we can be one of the best offenses in the country.”
“It’s been a long time since BYU’s done something like that with a true freshman and a long time anybody has had that level of success,” said offensive coordinator Robert Anae. “I’m very excited about the future. Hopefully we make it through these next two (games) with him staying healthy. That has been a huge strategy standpoint that goes unnoticed. We’ve made a huge deal of doing things to keep him in that realm.”
Because Mangum has had so much success so early, it's almost easy to forget that he’s a true freshman.
“He is a freshman, whether he’s 22 years old or not,” said wide receiver Mitch Mathews. “Being this good as a freshman, it’s scary to think of him as a sophomore, junior and a senior. He’ll be great for us.”
The month of November has been rough at times for Mangum. He had the pick-six in a 17-16 win at San Jose State and he lost a fumble against Missouri in BYU territory and the Tigers ended up scoring the game-winning touchdown on their next drive. The Cougars scored only 16 points against Mizzou.
In last Saturday’s 52-10 victory against Fresno State, he and the offense took a while to get going. He lost another fumble but finished with 336 yards passing.
Playing an intense in-state rivalry game against Utah State in Logan on Saturday, Mangum will need to be sharp and play mistake-free football.
“It was good for us that we came with 45 offensive points (against Fresno State),” said wide receiver Mitch Mathews. “We hadn’t scored as much in the past couple of games so it was really good for us to have a breakout game for him. We can take that momentum into the last couple of games.”
Mathews has enjoyed the opportunity to play with Mangum this season.
“He’s a guy that you can throw into any circumstance, any situation, and he’ll just thrive and play,” he said. “I wouldn’t trade Tanner for the world. He’s a great quarterback. He’s able to hit the ground running within months of returning home from a mission. The sky’s the limit for him.“
Nobody, including Mangum, could have predicted what he’s accomplished this fall.
“I didn’t think the season was going like this,” he said. “Mentally I was preparing to play, but I don’t think anyone could have scripted this year. But that’s college football. You never know what’s going to happen. I’ve been doing my best to enjoy it and make the most of it with my teammates and coaches.”
For BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall, Mangum’s immediate impact was something he certainly didn’t foresee.
“I was planning on Taysom Hill and Jamaal Williams going into the season,” he said. “I wouldn’t have pegged anything other than I know not to doubt what Tanner is capable of. He’s a very good quarterback. He’s just a true freshman. Pretty amazing.”
EMAIL: jeffc@deseretnews.com