Maybe the magic dust will stick to other BYU quarterbacks.
Zach Wilson is expected to play his final game at BYU in the Boca Raton Bowl on Tuesday but what has the Cougar quarterbacks room learned from the superstar’s junior season that can apply to the future?
For one, Wilson has set a high mark for just being prepared through hard work, film study, off-the-field research, and recon before games. His storied trips to see you know who (John Beck) in San Diego in the offseason have practically become a soap opera script on national television.
“I think what we’ve seen in Zack this year is just how he’s really learned to trust the scheme and trust the players around him to do their jobs.” — Aaron Roderick
That is the mark of a hungry, engaged QB.
Against Central Florida, if Wilson gets protection, he’ll deliver some big numbers in an expected offensive shootout against the Knights. It could be the most yards and points by two teams in the postseason. Before kickoff, Wilson’s 2020 season has produced 3,267 yards and 30 touchdowns through the air with 73.2% accuracy.
CBS Sports NFL draft experts have Wilson as a solid first-round draft pick, going No. 6 behind Trevor Lawrence and Ohio State’s Justin Fields. Heisman Trophy voters had to send in their ballots Monday by noon. Many if not most, have Wilson in the mix.
But when the smoke clears, the Cougars return from Florida for the holidays and winter workouts begin, what does quarterbacks coach Aaron Roderick do with the Wilson legacy?
I ran that one by Roderick during the lead-up to BYU’s trip to Florida.
“I think the first lesson is that there’s no substitute for experience. I mean, the more you play, the more the game slows down, the more you’ve seen the more you react, the better you react to those situations when they happen again. So, the experience is huge, and he’s showing that this year,” said Roderick.
Of the QBs who expected to be in Roderick’s room this winter, the most experienced is sophomore Baylor Romney. The second most experienced is sophomore Jaren Hall. The others are sophomore Rhett Reilly, and freshmen Mason Fakahua, Jacob Conover and Sol-Jay Maiava-Peters.
All of those players have their eligibility reset with redshirt years intact. It’s like this year never happened and their clock stopped.
Conover has been a disruptive force on the scout team offense and Maiava-Peters has provided BYU’s defense a great look against an athletic option QB.
“I think the other thing though is just learning,” said Roderick, and he points to an important jump for Wilson this past year.
Aside from being healthy for the first time in his BYU career, he engaged his brain in the artistry of being QB1.
“I think what we’ve seen in Zach this year is just how he’s really learned to trust the scheme and trust the players around him to do their jobs,” Roderick explained. “You know there were times in the past where he was so talented and he had so much confidence in himself he sometimes tried to make plays that maybe weren’t there.
“There were times frankly where the execution around him was not as good as it is now. And so sometimes he had to try to make something happen because someone else is blowing an assignment or not doing what they’re supposed to do and I think this year he’s had really good play around him, and he’s learned that the plays work, and let your players make plays for you.”
Roderick explained how having an experienced offensive line, chemistry with receivers, and other tools like Tyler Allgeier and Lopini Katoa, combined with the emergence of 10-touchdown tight end Isaac Rex has allowed Wilson to perfect many of the simple plays in the offense, some of the basic cornerstones of what Jeff Grimes and the offense staff designed.
“A lot of the best plays he’s made this year are just the simple ones, keeping the game simple, making simple reads and then, you know, every game there are a few spectacular things.
“He is a great player and he’ll do some things but we’re trying to get to the point now where those things just kind of come to you in the flow of the game, you don’t have to force them,” Roderick said. “And he’s done a great job running our offense and that’s the best lesson I want our QBs to learn is that the scheme works. Trust the players around you to do their jobs and just keep the game simple.”
Wilson is the first BYU starting QB to finish the season (uninjured and without missing games) since Taysom Hill in 2013 — seven years ago.
As soon as Wilson announces his decision to leave school — or unexpectedly return — Roderick hopes lessons learned are appreciated and applied to 2021 big time.
He’ll know soon enough.