Jacob Conover Separating Himself As BYU’s Backup Quarterback
Mar 28, 2022, 11:18 PM
BYU Football quarterback Jacob Conover during spring practices. (Jaren Wilkey/BYU Photo)
(Jaren Wilkey/BYU Photo)
PROVO, Utah – Third-year player Jacob Conover is separating himself as the backup quarterback for BYU football in 2022.
The redshirt freshman from Chandler, Arizona, was the only reserve quarterback after Jaren Hall that saw reps during Monday’s media observation portion of practice.
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After practice, BYU offensive coordinator indicated that Conover is getting some distance from Boise State transfer Cade Fennegan and fellow third-year redshirt freshman Sol-Jay Maiava-Peters.
BYU Football OC says Conover is separating himself
“Jacob (Conover) has separated himself a little bit at No. 2,” said Roderick to the assembled media on Monday. “But Cade and Sol-Jay are improving every day, and I’m still giving them reps. So that’s where we stand right now.”
It’s not a surprise that Conover is separating himself from the field. Roderick told The Zone Sports Network that Conover was getting a majority of the second-team reps during week one of spring practice.
Conover, a former four-star recruit in the class of 2019, has appeared in two games during his BYU career. As it stands right now, he would be the next in line if starter Jaren Hall was to go down with an injury. However, Roderick has seen growth from Conover over these 13 practices in spring ball.
Conover’s reps are helping with the separation
“I think the reps are just accumulating now. He’s been here long enough that it’s starting to show that he knows what he’s doing. In his overall time here, he’s had a few more reps than Sol-Jay and Cade have; it just kind of comes with playing. The games seem to be slowing down a little bit for him. He’s a talented guy.”
Assuming Conover keeps the separation from Fennegan and Maiava-Peters, is Roderick content with Hall and these three reserves as his quarterbacks? The Transfer Portal always sees an uptick of signal-caller entrants after spring practices conclude. Because many QBs realize where they stand in quarterback battles might not be what they had hoped.
Since the Transfer Portal came into existence, head coach Kalani Sitake has never opposed adding players from the portal at any position if it makes the team better. It will be something to monitor during the spring and summer months as BYU gets ready to play its final season as an FBS Independent.
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 him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.
