BYU junior quarterback Tanner Mangum will play for the first time in nearly a month when the Cougars face Boise State on Friday night, coach Kalani Sitake said during his pregame show.
“Our first thought is to go with (Mangum) and see how it goes,” Sitake told KSL Newsradio. “I think, for the most part, that’s our plan right now.”
Mangum hasn’t played since being injured on the final play for the Cougars in a 19-13 loss to Utah on Sept. 9 with an apparent ankle injury. Beau Hoge and Koy Detmer Jr. have played in his absence, as BYU (1-4) enters the game against Boise State (2-2) on a four-game losing streak.
Mangum completed 49 of 90 passes for 466 yards, two touchdowns and four interceptions in the Cougars’ first three games. Hoge, meanwhile, completed 16 of 29 passes for 206 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions in replacing him before going down against Utah State last week.
Detmer Jr. then filled in for more than two quarters in the 40-24 loss to the Aggies, completing 7 of 20 passes for 91 yards and three interceptions in a game in which BYU turned the ball over seven times.
Mangum warmed up with the team pregame against Boise State.
“We’ll have to see how he feels in pregame, but he practiced basically all week and … he progressively got better,” Sitake told KSL Newsradio.