I’m looking forward to getting back at them this year in Provo … We want to win. I think Tanner was actually telling me that he was deciding between BYU and Boise State for his final decision and I know that he wants to win just as bad as I do, just being from there. – Colby Pearson
PROVO — BYU wide receiver Colby Pearson caught an 81-yard touchdown pass against Boise State last season in Boise.
It was a gratifying moment for the 6-foot, 204-pounder from Blackfoot, Idaho, but he wasn't satisfied.
Boise State won last year’s game 55-30, and when the No. 20 Broncos visit Provo Saturday night, Pearson is hoping for a different outcome.
“Last year, at Boise, it was something else,” he recalled. “There was definitely an extra chip on my shoulder going in there. With them coming back to Provo, that game is definitely circled on my personal schedule. I’m hoping to do my best I can in that game and contribute in any way and come out with a ‘W’ against Boise State.”
Pearson, like BYU quarterback Tanner Mangum, narrowed down his college choice to the Cougars and Broncos.
“It was between Boise State and BYU when I was deciding where to go,” he said. “And also being from Idaho ... it's a big game for me personally … It was a fun thing going in there last year. I wanted to do the best I could and show them what I had. We beat them my freshman year, then they beat us there. Now they’re coming back. Hopefully, it will be tough for them in Provo.”
Last week at Nebraska, Pearson caught three passes for 28 yards and is looking to build on that performance Saturday.
“I personally had my best game last year against Boise State, but overall, the fact that we didn't come out on top, they pretty much gave it to us that game,” he said. “I'm looking forward to getting back at them this year in Provo … We want to win. I think Tanner was actually telling me that he was deciding between BYU and Boise State for his final decision and I know that he wants to win just as bad as I do, just being from there.”
QUARTERBACK SITUATION: With Mangum becoming the starter after Taysom Hill’s injury, Beau Hoge and Koy Detmer, Jr. are listed behind him on the depth chart.
Detmer is the scout team quarterback, said outside linebackers coach Kelly Poppinga.
“He’s a stud. He’ll be a really good quarterback one day for BYU,” Poppinga said of Detmer. “Just imagine Ty Detmer, but 5-foot-9. He makes a ton of plays. He’s a really good player.”
ALL IN THE FAMILY: BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall had coached Mangum’s older brother Parker before Tanner arrived in Provo.
“Just an amazing family,” Mendenhall said of the Mangums. “It was just clear that this is where he was going to choose and this is what he wanted. It didn’t really matter who else wanted him. He was a BYU player and he was from a BYU family.”