Legend in the eyes of a legend.
As BYU freshman Legend Glasker expands on his grip on a glorious freshman season, legendary BYU receiver Glen Kozlowski has taken notice.
“I thought Puka (Nacua) was the best I had seen, but this kid might be better than him.”
— former BYU receiver Glen Kozlowski on Legend Glasker
“This kid has skills I’ve never seen in my life,” Kozlowski told the “Y’s Guys” livestream show this week. “He just understands and he’s growing. You have got to believe you are the best on the field and that kid believes he is the best on the field all the time.”
In his first three college games since starring at Lehi High, Glasker leads the Cougars with 11 receptions for 270 yards and two touchdowns. He has also rushed six times for 42 yards and two touchdowns, and has twice been honored as the Big 12 Freshman of the Week.
“To be the best, you have to believe you are the best, that’s the first thing. Secondly, you have to get the opportunity,” Kozlowski said. “A lot of guys probably had that skill set but they didn’t get the opportunity, so once you get it you have to take advantage of it.
“There are very few that will actually do it and go after it and just attack the football — this kid is pretty special. I thought Puka (Nacua) was the best I had seen, but this kid might be better than him.”
Like Glasker, Kozlowski started as a freshman in 1981 and when his career ended, the 6-foot, 195-pound playmaker from Carlsbad, California, had caught 141 passes for 2,302 yards and 24 touchdowns — and won a national championship.
Kozlowski’s journey can be a blueprint for what awaits Glasker in the coming weeks, months and years.
“He has to figure out how to get open in double coverage. It’s going to happen to him. By the end of my freshman year I was always getting doubled,” Kozlowski said. “What I did understand was we had five other guys who were really talented. All I had to do was take the double team away from them and somebody else was going to make the play. Then (defenses) had to figure out ‘how do we defend these guys?’”
On what became the biggest play in program history, on third-and-four at the Michigan 13 late in the 1984 Holiday Bowl, Kozlowski attracted a crowd of defenders while Robbie Bosco hit Kelly Smith for the game-winning touchdown to win 24-17 and secure the national championship.
“(Legend’s) job is to understand, don’t get frustrated, because eventually they are going to start doubling you up and taking you away and you just have to do your job and understand that people recognize your talent, but at the same time it’s about winning. It’s about winning,” Kozlowski said. “That’s all I cared about. If you want to win, you have to accept the fact that sometimes you are not going to have a big game, but you are also taking players away so somebody else can have a big game.
“That is the most important part, understanding that it’s a team concept and just accepting the fact that you are going to get doubled. He might even get tripled because that kid is that good.”
Glasker’s size, at 6-1, 175 pounds, and his early playing opportunities are not greatly different from Kozlowski, but his speed is at another level. In addition, and much to Kozlowski’s disappointment, his jersey number is different too.
“He should be wearing No. 7. That’s what I think. Puka (Nacua) should have worn No. 7 too!” he laughed. “They are much better than me, but I love seeing these young guys perform.”
Kozlowski played six seasons for the Bears. Nacua is in his fourth season with the Rams. Where Glasker goes from here is anybody’s guess, but in the eyes of Kozlowski, a BYU legend himself, Legend is on a trajectory that could be second to none.
Dave McCann is a sportswriter and columnist for the Deseret News and is a play-by-play announcer and show host for BYUtv/ESPN+. He co-hosts “Y’s Guys” at ysguys.com and is the author of the children’s book “C is for Cougar,” available at deseretbook.com.