BYU Football

The Big 12 is reportedly looking into the possibility of adding BYU to the conference after losing both Oklahoma and Texas to the SEC beginning in 2025.

According to Max Olson and Andy Staples of The Athletic, the Big 12 is "seriously discussing" the possibility of BYU as a replacement for one of its big departures, although the talks are "very early in the process."

BYU has been an independent in football since 2011, but it was previously part of the Mountain West Conference, Western Athletic Conference, Skyline Conference, Mountain States Athletic Conference and Rocky Mountain Conference.

Olson and Staples noted that the Big 12 is hard at work to find potential new members since the conference is set to drop down to only eight teams when Oklahoma and Texas leave.

As part of those efforts, Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt, Baylor athletic director Mack Rhoades, Iowa State president Wendy Wintersteen and Kansas chancellor Douglas Girod have formed an expansion subgroup.

Several factors could make BYU an ideal fit in the Big 12, including the fact that it has experienced a great deal of success in football.

The Cougars won a national championship back in 1984, and they have won 10 or more games in a season six times since 2006. That included an 11-1 mark last season, concluding with a win over Central Florida in the Boca Raton Bowl.

BYU has also played in a bowl game and finished with a .500 or better record in 15 of the past 16 seasons.

It was also noted by Olson and Staples that BYU has proven to be a draw on television, which could make it a valuable addition.

From 2015-19, BYU averaged 1.64 million viewers per game in 16 games broadcast on ABC, Fox or ESPN. That wasn't far behind the Big 12 average of 1.786 million during that same span.

Also, BYU averaged 682,000 viewers in 20 games on ESPN2, ESPNU, Fox Sports 1 or Fox Sports 2, while Big 12 games averaged only 482,000 viewers on the same channels.

It is possible interest could be mutual since BYU wants to be in a Power 5 conference as well, per Olson and Staples, although it is unlikely any official moves will be made in the near future.

On Thursday, the Pac-12 announced it was not pursuing expansion "at this time," which was a substantial win for the Big 12.

That means the Pac-12 won't try to poach any of the Big 12's teams, plus the Pac-12 conceivably would have been the Big 12's main rival in terms of recruiting BYU.

The BYU football program announced a partnership with Built Brands, a nutrition company, that includes name, image and likeness (NIL) agreements with walk-on members of the Cougars' roster to cover their academic tuition.

BYU provided a video of all 36 walk-on players finding out the news Thursday:

Tuition for a full course load at the private university in Utah is $6,120 per semester for a non-Latter-day Saint and $3,060 per semester for a Latter-day Saint during the 2021-22 academic year, according to the school's official website.

BYU head coach Kalani Sitake said he's happy the recent NIL changes are allowing all players, and not just the stars on each team, to benefit financially:

From the beginning of the NIL discussion, my hope was that changes to NCAA rules and regulations would provide a pathway forward for all players to benefit more fully from their name, image and likeness, especially walk-ons who sacrifice so much to make our program great. When [Built co-founder] Nick Greer called to tell me that Built was committed to entering into NIL deals which would pay our walk-ons enough money to cover their tuition for the full academic year, I could not hold back my emotions. I love these boys, and I am overwhelmed with gratitude to be partnering with a company that is equally committed to assisting BYU football in building a culture of love and learning while enhancing the experience for all players.

Built co-founder Nick Greer said the company is "excited" about the team-wide partnership, which includes 123 players signing NIL agreements with the company.

"Games are won when every single player lifts and supports each other with everything they've got," he said. "That is how we will all win."

BYU is coming off an 11-1 season in 2020 that saw it finish 11th in the final Associated Press poll following a win over UCF in the Boca Raton Bowl. Star quarterback Zach Wilson was then selected with the second overall pick in the NFL draft by the New York Jets.

The Cougars kick off the 2021 campaign Sept. 4 when they face off with Arizona at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

BYU quarterback Zach Wilson has reached out to three former New York Jets quarterbacks—Josh McCown, Chad Pennington and Mark Sanchez—to ask questions about what it's like to play for the franchise and inside the country's biggest media market.

Aditi Kinkhabwala of the NFL Network provided that tidbit and more details about Wilson's preparations ahead of the 2021 NFL draft, where he'll likely be the Jets' choice with the No. 2 overall pick, based on a conversation with his QB coach, John Beck:

Clemson's Trevor Lawrence is the Jacksonville Jaguars' presumptive choice with the first overall pick, and the Jets are expected to follow by taking Wilson as part of a quarterback-heavy top 10.

The BYU standout put together a tremendous junior season in 2020. He completed 73.5 percent of his passes for 3,692 yards with 33 touchdowns and three interceptions across 12 games for the Cougars. He also recorded 10 rushing scores.

"Great staff. Love those guys," Wilson told reporters when asked about the Jets after his pro day workout in March. "Joe Douglas is a great guy. It was good to see him out here. They've got a good thing going."

Playing in New York is a different animal compared to any other U.S. sports market. Every mistake is amplified, and the pressure on Wilson's shoulders if he does come off the board at No. 2 will be even higher as Jets fans desperately seek an end to the team's NFL-high 10-year playoff drought.

Getting some insight from the likes of McCown, Pennington and Sanchez can only help as he prepares for what's to come in the months and years ahead.

Pennington and Sanchez in particular should both be able to provide some great information about the possible pitfalls as former Jets first-round picks who were able to find some success but couldn't quite attain franchise QB status.

Sanchez appeared on The Herd with Colin Cowherd earlier this week and provided a taste of the advice he'd pass along to Wilson:

"He's gonna be in a very different media market. You're gonna have to stack all those things, and there's gonna be a learning curve for each of those categories—whether it's media, the on-the-field stuff.

"So, my only fear with him was, a little too riverboat gambler when you don't have to be. When it's an easy just routine grounder to second, and you just flip it to first base, flip it to first base. Don't give me any around-the-back, you know, through-the-legs Harlem Globetrotters—just get the guy out."

Wilson has all the physical tools to succeed in the NFL, but it's hard to know whether he'll find long-term success with the Jets until he faces that first stretch of adversity in New York and is forced to bounce back when the headlines are already predicting his demise.

At least one NFL team has BYU's Zach Wilson as its No. 1 quarterback in the 2021 draft class over Clemson's Trevor Lawrence, according to Matt Miller of The Draft Scout.

"What he does as a thrower, and as a runner, is exactly where we are as a league right now," an NFL college scouting director told Miller. "He throws some of those 50-50 balls with his shoulders square to the defense after running around in the pocket and I'm seeing Patrick Mahomes at Texas Tech all over again."

Wilson has been rocketing up draft boards after a 2020 season in which he threw for 3,692 yards, 33 touchdowns and just three interceptions in 12 games, completing 73.5 percent of his passes and leading BYU to an 11-1 record. 

Suffice to say, more than a few folks are impressed with his game:

Other analysts, however, think we might want to pump the brakes on the Mahomes' comparison or the idea that he's a better prospect than Lawrence:

Lawrence, after all, won a national championship in his three years at Clemson and led the team to the College Football Playoff in each of those seasons. For his career, he threw for 10,098 yards, 90 touchdowns and 17 interceptions in 40 games, completing 66.6 percent of his passes. 

"You hear everyone talk about generational talent," an NFL evaluator told Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated regarding Lawrence. "Well, the only one I've studied who's like him is Andrew Luck. Between those two, I'd rank Andrew slightly ahead of Trevor. But it's close."

NFL.com draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah had a slightly different comparison, calling him "Deshaun Watson in [Justin] Herbert's body."

Suffice to say, Lawrence still seems likely to be the top overall pick when the Jacksonville Jaguars make their selection. But there apparently isn't a consensus on who should be the top quarterback on the board, with Wilson clearly impressing evaluators. 

BYU star Zach Wilson is declaring for the 2021 NFL draft.

Wilson released a statement Friday thanking his teammates and coaches:

The move was widely expected since the 21-year-old is pegged as one of the top quarterbacks available.

His stock couldn't have gone up much higher with another season in college. Improving upon the Cougars' finish would've been tough, too, because this year reinforced how Group of Five schools and independents not named Notre Dame are staring at a glass ceiling. 

BYU finished 10-1 and sat 16th in the final College Football Playoff committee rankings. That all amounted to a berth in the Boca Raton Bowl.

As much as Wilson might have wanted to compete in a New Year's Six bowl, that's a long shot in any given year for a program that isn't in a Power Five conference.

The Draper, Utah, native finished his college career with 7,659 passing yards and 56 touchdowns. He also ran for 642 yards and 15 scores.

His standout performance of 2020 came in a September victory over Troy, when he finished 23-of-27 for 392 yards and two touchdowns.

Wilson has the opportunity to become the highest BYU player selected in the NFL draft, an honor that currently belongs to Jim McMahon (1982) and Ezekiel Ansah (2013), who went fifth overall in their respective years. 

In his most recent mock draft for B/R, Matt Miller projected the Cougars standout at No. 4 to the Carolina Panthers.

On Dec. 16, Miller ranked Wilson as the fourth-best quarterback available and described him as a "bigger, less athletic Kyler Murray." He also shared this assessment from an NFL college scouting director: "He fits where the league is headed—playmaker with a big arm who makes a lot of wow throws and can win with his legs. I have no idea how ready to play he is because the scheme is backyard football and he hasn't played anyone."

Every year, a quarterback surges up draft boards as the regular season and pre-draft process unfolds. Sometimes you wind up with Murray or Patrick Mahomes; other times you get Blake Bortles or Daniel Jones.

Clemson's Trevor Lawrence is widely considered the best draft-eligible player, and he'll almost certainly be the top pick if he declares. After that, the position gets a bit murky. Wilson, Justin Fields, Mac Jones and Trey Lance can all stake a claim to be No. 2.

The next few months for Wilson will be important toward alleviating the fears that his talent has been inflated by a perceived lack of competition at BYU and nudging him ahead of the pack.

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins isn't the only signal-caller who isn't worried about COVID-19.

BYU quarterback Zach Wilson said Monday he was diagnosed with COVID-19 in July following "a little gambling night" with teammates, per TMZ Sports. He cited Cousins when saying he isn't concerned with the long-term effects of the virus.

"Personally, for me, I'm kind of like what Kirk Cousins said a little bit," he said. "I know he got harped on for it, but I would rather play football than ever worry about any of that kind of stuff. I wear a mask to respect those around me."

Early this month, Cousins appeared on the 10 Questions with Kyle Brandt podcast (via Andrew Marchand of the New York Post) and said his concern about COVID-19 was a "0.000001" out of 10:

"For me personally, if you're just talking no one else can get the virus, what is your concern if you could get it, I would say I'm gonna go about my daily life. If I get it, I'm gonna ride it out. I'm gonna let nature do its course. Survival-of-the-fittest kind of an approach. And just say, if it knocks me out, it knocks me out. I'm gonna be OK. You know, even if I die. If I die, I die. I kind of have peace about that. ... My opinion on wearing a mask is really about being respectful to other people."

Norma Gonzalez of the Salt Lake Tribune noted the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the BYU football team with canceled practices and a postponed game against Army after players tested positive for the coronavirus.

Wilson said his symptoms were not severe.

"For me and the other guys that had it, it was just like a cold—minor symptoms and just tired, fatigued, all that kind of stuff," he said. "For us, it was nothing crazy. It was four days and we were ready to go again."

Wilson has been the quarterback for BYU since 2018.

He threw for 2,382 yards and 11 touchdowns with nine interceptions last year. He helped the Cougars to a 55-3 victory over Navy two weeks ago by throwing for 232 yards and two touchdowns with one interception.

BYU (1-0) is slated to resume its season Saturday against Troy.

The BYU vs. Army college football game, which was scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 19, has been postponed after a "small number" of people within the Cougars football program tested positive for COVID-19.

On Saturday, BYU released a statement, which read: "As a result of a small number of positive COVID-19 test results and the resulting tracing exposures within the BYU football program, a mutual decision was made to postpone the football game on Sept. 19 between Army and BYU."

Per the statement, BYU and Army will attempt to reschedule the game, and the team will hold "small-group workouts" between now and when the team is cleared to hold full practices once again.

The Cougars' next scheduled game is Saturday, Sept. 26 against Troy at home in Provo, Utah.

Like all other Division-I FBS schools who have opted to play football this year amid the pandemic, BYU's schedule has been adjusted and/or truncated, with the Cougars having just eight games on tap provided the Army game is successfully rescheduled.

BYU is scheduled to play every week from Oct. 10 through Oct. 31 before closing the year against North Alabama on Nov. 21. The Cougars are 1-0 after opening the season with a 55-3 road win at Navy.

Army is playing a full 12-game slate and started the year with two wins against Middle Tennessee State (42-0) and Louisiana-Monroe (37-7). The annual Army vs. Navy game is still scheduled to occur on Dec. 12 at 3 p.m. ET.

BYU vs. Army is one of numerous games that have been postponed or canceled amid the pandemic. It's also one of three games pushed back as of Saturday.

Memphis vs. Houston, which was scheduled for Friday, Sept. 18, has been postponed due to COVID-19 cases at Memphis, while Virginia vs. Virginia Tech, previously set for Sat., Sept. 19, has also been pushed back after COVID-19 concerns at Virginia Tech.