BYU (0-0) at Arizona (0-0)
Saturday, 8:45 p.m. MDT Arizona Stadium
TV: ESPN
Radio: 1160 AM, 102.7 FM
PROVO — BYU senior quarterback Tanner Mangum has traveled a long and difficult road since he suffered a season-ending Achilles injury last November at Fresno State.
Not only has Mangum recovered from that serious injury — and dropped more than 20 pounds along the way — but he’s also seen an overhaul of the offensive coaching staff and he’s gone through an intense battle with several other quarterbacks, including true freshman backup Zach Wilson, in recent months.
It wasn’t easy, but Mangum has recaptured the title he held last season — the Cougars’ starting QB.
Last Friday, BYU revealed that Mangum will be taking the snaps when it visits Arizona Saturday (8:45 p.m., MDT, ESPN) in the season-opener.
“When they told me, it made me reflect on the journey that I’ve been on. It’s been a wild ride, a lot of ups and downs,” he said Monday about the moment when coaches informed him that he would be the starter. “I was really thankful to be able to play and this chance to be able to finish out my senior year on a high note. We’ve been working really hard as a team to get ourselves ready and get in the right frame of mind … I’m just thankful for this opportunity to play. Now to be able to come out and play football is a big blessing. It’s something I want to take advantage of and enjoy and make the most of.”
Mangum, who was also named one of eight team captains Monday, competed with Wilson throughout fall camp for the starting job.
Why did the coaches choose Mangum over Wilson?
“He deserved it. He won the starting spot. We wanted to create an opportunity to compete at every position … He performed best and won the spot,” said coach Kalani Sitake. “There was a huge sense of urgency. The fact that he knew he had to compete for the spot, you saw him change his body but that’s not the only thing he changed. He prepared himself in a lot of different areas to be the quarterback. The competition was really more on how ready Zach was. It wasn’t that we weren’t sure who was going to be the guy. We felt like there were two guys that did extremely well. We felt Tanner had earned the starting spot. But we feel really pleased with the progress that we saw with Zach.”
What was wide receiver Micah Simon’s reaction to learning the news that Mangum would be the starter?
“I was excited. If it was him or if it was Zach, I knew we could win with both of those guys. It didn’t matter who it was,” he said. “We’re going to rally behind him. I’m ready to get going.”
Simon said he’s been impressed by what he’s seen from Mangum during the offseason.
“First off, just fighting back from his injury. Achilles (injuries) are never an easy thing to come back from. The way he took it and his positive-mind attitude day in and day out was great to see,” Simon said. “Guys seeing him being positive going through what he was going through made everybody have a positive attitude. He had to change his body, push himself to learn the playbook and be ready to go for fall camp being limited in spring — all those things together combined showed his willingness to be a senior leader for us. I’m excited to get to catch passes from him one more year.”
Last season, Mangum started eight games, completing 147 of 257 passes for 1,540 yards with eight touchdowns and nine interceptions.
Because of everything Mangum has experienced over the past nine or 10 months, he never felt entitled to the starting job, a position he also held almost the entire 2015 season as a freshman.
“I never felt that way. You have to earn it every day, especially after last season when I didn’t play well. I didn’t play my best. It would have been foolish of me to feel like I deserve it,” he said. “I knew I had to come back and show what I was capable of. That’s how I have to approach every day. Zach’s an incredible player. A really good quarterback. If I were to think that I deserved it just because I was older or had more experience, that would have been a mistake on my part. Football is a meritocracy. You’ve got to earn it. It’s not always fair. You have to come in and do your best every day in practice.”