QB Noah Lugo Excited For Big 12 Opportunity That Awaits At BYU
Dec 18, 2023, 4:22 PM | Updated: 4:24 pm
BYU football QB commit Noah Lugo is getting prepared for first year with the Cougars in Provo. (Courtesy of BYU Photo)
(Courtesy of BYU Photo)
PROVO, Utah – While BYU football looks to add quarterbacks from the transfer portal, they already have one new arm set to join from the high school ranks.
That’s Noah Lugo from Eaton High School near Fort Worth, Texas.
I will be signing my NLI on December 20th at 8am in the main gym at Eaton High School!!! #GoCougs pic.twitter.com/6Wv7hOxYFM
— Noah Lugo (@thenoahlugo) December 17, 2023
Lugo is gearing up to sign his national letter of intent on Wednesday during the first day of the early signing period. Then, he will quickly turn his attention to arriving at BYU on January 6 to enroll in the winter semester and join BYU’s quarterback room.
Big 12 football was a big deal for Noah Lugo
Lugo is an interesting story. He doesn’t have ties to BYU, nor is he a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. So why did the former UTSA commit pick BYU during his recruitment, which included offers from nearly 20 schools?
The Big 12 for starters.
“Big 12 football is where I see myself playing and BYU has that,” said Noah Lugo to KSL Sports. “Their offense fits my style having Jaren [Hall] as well as Zach Wilson in the offense. I can see myself being in those shoes. So it just pretty much worked out from there.”
BYU didn’t get in the mix for Lugo until after the spring evaluation period. Quarterback analyst Matt Mitchell informed Lugo that the Texas native was a priority on BYU’s quarterback board and they offered shortly after.
“It all matched up and aligned”
The BYU offer was Lugo’s second Power Conference offer, which had him excited. But Lugo, who boasts a 5.3 GPA, was also impressed with what BYU offered academically, so he decided to flip his commitment from the UTSA Roadrunners to BYU last July.
“I’m not LDS. I am Christian. And I mean, it doesn’t bother me, because ball is ball. You want to play ball at the highest level possible and have the highest level of education possible–which they have my civil engineering degree. It’s just one of those things where it all matched up and aligned. Their offense fits me perfectly. I love their coaching staff, I love their players, it ended up working out like that.”
Congratulations to Noah Lugo (@thenoahlugo) for being named 4-6A 1st Team All District Quarterback.#BCT | #EATon | #GOBIRDS🦅 pic.twitter.com/umKCYUpMCT
— Eaton Eagle Football (@EatonEagleFB) December 10, 2023
Noah Lugo started in all nine games during his senior season at V.R. Eaton, earning 4-6A First Team All-District honors at QB. He finished with 1,598 passing yards to go along with 862 rushing yards. Lugo had 12 touchdown runs this past season, including an Eaton High record 97-yard run.
Looking to improve
The 6-foot-1.5 Lugo acknowledges passing is where he looks to continue improving in his development. He improved to a 60% passer during his final year against 6A competition in Texas High School football. Through his first five games of the season, he was at a 71% completion rate. Still looking to improve in the passing game when he gets to BYU.
Lugo will join a BYU quarterback room that will feature competition. It’s assumed BYU will be adding a veteran signal caller from the Transfer Portal. Plus, BYU brings back Jake Retzlaff, who started the final four games of the season for the Cougars. Then, they also return former Springville High QB Ryder Burton, and program vets Nick Billoups and Cade Fennegan.
Kalani Sitake, BYU Football fans leave an impression on Noah Lugo
Competition is a staple in the BYU program under head coach Kalani Sitake. Throughout last season, Sitake emphasized how daily competition is always happening, regardless of the position.
Lugo has come away impressed with his interactions with Sitake. Plus, Lugo’s future teammates, like running back LJ Martin, praised the head coach.
“He’s told me great things about Coach Kalani and I see it every time I’m visiting. So it’s a really good experience to know that your coach is who he is when he’s there all the time, that he’s a player-coach, and that he respects us enough to have input and stuff like that. So it’s a great sight to see.”
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Lugo was on the front row of the BYU ROC during Saturday night’s basketball game against Georgia State as part of the final group of visitors before Signing Day this week.
Back in the fall, he took his official visit for BYU’s first Big 12 home game against Cincinnati. The passion from inside LaVell Edwards Stadium left an impression that has him excited to don the blue and white in the future.
“It’s crazy because I’ve been to a lot of collegiate football games, and you know, 70,000 or 60,000 people in the stands that really half of them aren’t participating. But Cougar Nation just knew what was happening in every part of the game. They had chants for everything. It was just a great scene to see and a great set to know I could be playing in front of that.”
National Signing Day kicks off on Wednesday, December 20, 2023 for the Early Signing Period and runs until December 22.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU in the Big 12 Conference on X and Threads: @Mitch_Harper.
