When BYU plays SMU in Saturday’s New Mexico Bowl, it’s expected that the Cougars will have a new face lined up behind center in place of Jaren Hall.
While Kalani Sitake hasn’t gone as far as ruling Hall out for the bowl game, it’s clear the junior — barring an unexpected turnaround — will miss the contest after injuring his right ankle in the regular-season finale against Stanford.
With Jacob Conover entering the transfer portal and already committing to Arizona State, that means BYU is expected to roll with one of the other three quarterbacks on its roster, among them Cade Fennegan, Sol-Jay Maiava-Peters and Nick Billoups.
Of those three, Fennegan is the only one with any significant college snaps.
Oddly enough, Fennegan — a transfer from Boise State — got the majority of those snaps against BYU in 2020 when he was playing for the Broncos.
How did Cade Fennegan do against BYU in 2020?
Fennegan entered Boise State’s 51-17 loss to BYU that year after Jack Sears went down with an injury midway through the first quarter — and Sears was in the lineup because the team’s original starter, Hank Bachmeier, missed the game due to injury.
Fennegan, then a true freshman out of Texas, completed 15 of 26 passes for 182 yards, two touchdowns and one interception against BYU. He also ran for 17 yards on seven carries.
If Fennegan is called upon again when the Cougars face SMU in the New Mexico Bowl, it’ll be just his second game playing the majority of snaps behind center in his college career.
What stood out from Cade Fennegan’s performance against BYU in 2020?
Here’s a few observations from what he showed in that game against BYU two years ago:
The bad
Clearly, Fennegan was thrust into a tough situation — he had returned from a Latter-day Saint mission months earlier — and showed his youth several times throughout the game.
His two turnovers — an interception and a fumble, both in the second quarter — were examples of the young quarterback trying to do too much. The first came on a third and 18 situation when Fennegan tried to fit a pass into a tight window along the sideline and it was tipped and intercepted.
The second turnover came when he failed to secure tuck away the ball when scrambling in the final minute of the half and he had it stripped loose.
He nearly threw two other interceptions had the BYU defenders been able to hold on to the ball, and in both cases it was due to poor decision-making with a pass rush closing in.
Fennegan was inconsistent with his accuracy at times, and it contributed to Boise State struggling to find rhythm on offense.
The Broncos had seven straight drives that failed to reach BYU territory, and while two of those drives Fennegan was replaced by another quarterback, Andy Peters, Boise State struggled to answer a run of 38 straight BYU points until the game was well in hand.
Fennegan did not show a great ability to make plays with his legs in open space. While he ran for 17 yards, he was generally taken down by the first defender he encountered; a QB draw late in the game where he lost two yards showed how he was still learning the speed of the game.
The good
Even though he was thrust into a difficult set of circumstances, Fennegan did show well in a few areas.
Fennegan did well relying on his top receiver, Khalil Shakir, who’s now in the NFL. He caught 10 passes for 139 yards and both touchdowns and was Fennegan’s top target on several plays in key down-and-distance situations.
Fennegan, after dealing with a bit of antsy feet after entering the game, showed a stronger pocket presence as the game wore on.
While Fennegan missed on a handful of downfield shots, he displayed good arm strength and connected on two long touchdown passes in the fourth quarter — of 52 and 46 yards.
Both times, he was decisive and connected with Shakir in space, allowing the wideout room to finish both plays in the end zone.
Fennegan had several instances where he kept his eyes downfield and found open receivers for double-digit gains, with a couple coming in third-down situations. On Boise State’s first touchdown drive, for example, he stayed in the pocket and found a receiver for a 14-yard gain to move the sticks.
What does it mean for BYU’s bowl game against SMU?
It’s been two years since Fennegan, who transferred to BYU in fall 2021, has played any meaningful snaps in a college game.
He also may not be the top option for BYU, with Maiava-Peters and Billoups also available. Sitake, staying aloof, said in the lead-up to the game that, referring to the backups behind Hall, “The other guys are capable. You might see one, you might see two, you might see three. … We have a bunch of guys that can do things.”
Fennegan is also in a different system, and how Boise State utilized him is sure to be different to some degree from how BYU might.
Still, even with his limited tape, there can at least be a breath of optimism that Fennegan may do well enough with a relatively healthy stable of running backs for the Cougars against an SMU defense that is allowing 445.8 yards and 34.6 points per game this season.
The trouble is that the Mustangs are averaging 479.8 yards and 38.4 points themselves, and that could be difficult for Fennegan, or any other backup, to try and win this one in a shootout.