Baylor Romney Has ‘Hot Hand;’ Should Start Against Utah State

PROVO, Utah – BYU’s second-string quarterback, Jaren Hall, may have more reps with the offense and may be the more talented athlete, but Baylor Romney has the momentum going into the Utah State game.

What is the one thing that BYU football has lacked during the Kalani Sitake era? Consistency.

After a win over a nationally-ranked Boise State team, the Cougars need to ride the wave of momentum from that game into the rivalry against Utah State by giving Romney the nod.

Kalani Sitake on what he’s looking for from Jaren Hall and Baylor Romney in practice: “I think just competition and seeing who gives us the best opportunity to win.” #BYU #KSLsports pic.twitter.com/EbjuWjpmcb

— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) October 28, 2019

Stats don’t lie

After throwing for 221 yards, two touchdowns, and most importantly zero interceptions, BYU has to go with Romney. What makes that stat line more impressive for Romney is that he only had one week of first-team reps leading up to the Broncos. The Cougars would be silly not to ride the hot hand.

What this will come down to is how Romney performs in practice.

Who will win the starting quarterback job between Jaren Hall and Baylor Romney? #BYU https://t.co/62MYLvInMz

— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) October 29, 2019

Back in the spring, Hall did outperform Romney by a sizable margin for those following the team throughout practices.

There’s something to be said, however, about being a gamer. Romney delivered when everyone outside of players and coaches on the team were ready to write BYU off completely.

Like Hall, Romney is a dual-threat quarterback who can make plays with both his arm and his feet. But different from Hall is that Romney might not have as quick of a trigger to take off and run, he will let the routes develop and find guys like Matt Bushman get out in the open field to make plays.

If you’re looking to find consistency as a program you don’t go away from a quarterback who delivered one of the best wins of the season.

What do you think?

Take a look at Spencer Linton’s argument for starting Jaren Hall against Utah State, then vote in our Facebook and Twitter polls.

Who should @BYUFootball start at quarterback against Utah State?

📷: Deseret News

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) October 29, 2019

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12-3 pm) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.