BYU Football: The Case for Baylor Romney at Quarterback

BYU Football returns three Quarterbacks who have game experience. Here is the case for Baylor Romney to be the starting Quarterback.

Welcome to the great BYU QB debate! Today, we'll go over the cases for Zach Wilson, Baylor Romney and Jaren Hall to be the starting Quarterback when BYU kicks off the 2020 season.

You can find the case for Zach Wilson here. You can find the case for Jaren Hall here. focus on Baylor Romney in this article. 

The Case For Baylor Romney

• Results Don't Lie

Baylor Romney is 2-0 as the starting Quarterback and he played well in both of his appearances of the bench. At the end of the day, winning matters.

Romney led BYU to a win over an undefeated Boise State team where he threw for 221 yards and 2 touchdowns on 26 attempts. (ESPN) Most importantly, Romney didn't try to do too much in his first start. He made the plays that were available and avoided costly mistakes.

Against Liberty, Romney threw for 262 yards, 3 touchdowns, and 1 interception. For a guy making his first two starts, those stats are really impressive.

• Seemingly Unfazed by Pressure

Baylor Romney made his first appearance in a BYU uniform against South Florida. He was immediately thrown into the fire - Romney's first drive starting with 7:37 remaining in the fourth quarter when BYU was down 23-27. (ESPN) Romney was seemingly unfazed by the pressure and led two BYU drives to give the Cougars the chance to win. BYU ultimately fell short, but Romney ended the game with 73 yards on 10 passing attempts.

One week later, Romney stepped on the field for the first time at Lavell Edwards and led BYU on an impressive touchdown drive in the freezing rain. It was at that point when I asked myself, "Who is this kid?" Romney just stepped in and calmly delivered the ball where it was supposed to go.

Against Utah State, Romney came in during the second half and buried the Aggies. He pushed BYU's lead from 21-14 to 42-14 on 191 yards passing and 2 touchdowns. (ESPN)

• Avoids Costly Mistakes

In his limited reps, Romney has avoided costly mistakes. He made mistakes and I don't want to discount those mistakes based purely off circumstances, but they weren't catastrophic. Taking care of the football during the most important parts of the game is, obviously, critical.

• Quick Reads

Romney excelled at making a quick read and delivering the ball to the intended target. Watch his touchdown drives against Boise State. With the exception of one or two throws, Romney is just playing within the offense and making the right throws on time.

The Case Against Baylor Romney

• Was Boise State Fool's Gold?

Like I mentioned above, Romney did exactly what he was supposed to do against Boise State. He made the right throws at the right time and led BYU to a win. However, most fans forget about the second and fourth quarter against Boise State. Here are BYU's drives in the second and four quarters: (ESPN)

2nd Quarter

3 plays, -4 yards

3 plays, -2 yards

3 plays, 8 yards,

1 play, 5 yards (End of Half)

4th Quarter

5 plays, 13 yards

3 plays, -2 yards

5 plays, 4 yards

During two full quarters, BYU only gained 22 yards on offense. These were really the only quarters of the season where BYU couldn't move the football - even against San Diego State BYU was able to consistently get first downs. BYU did most of their damage in the third quarter where they scored 21 unanswered points. All 3 touchdowns in the quarter came off big plays:

1. 46-yard run by Sione Finau
2. 27-yard pass from Baylor Romney to Matt Bushman
3. 39-yard pass from Baylor Romney to Matt Bushman

This is where analyzing Romney's performance gets tricky. Romney deserves credit for executing these plays, but both touchdown passes were trick plays. Would BYU have been able to score without the trick plays? We'll never know.

• Limited Experience

Experience is a great teacher, and Romney has very limited experience. This isn't something he can control but it's worth noting.

• Comparably Limited Mobility

Romney doesn't move as well as Wilson and Hall. Quarterbacks don't always need to be mobile, necessarily, but it's very helpful when you face a team with a good pass rush. 

• Spring Football

Romney battled an injury during spring football and wasn't able to fully participate.

In conclusion, it's hard to know what a Romney-led offense would look like against a team like Utah or Michigan State. Romney hasn't shown the same level of playmaking ability as Zach Wilson but he has also been more protective of the football. In the case for Zach Wilson, I said the following:

Some BYU fans have voiced their concern over Wilson's decision making and prefer the more conservative play style of Baylor Romney. We'll go in depth about Romney in a separate article, but here is a rebuttal to consider: BYU faces a really tough schedule in 2020. BYU probably doesn't have the skill players to consistently beat good teams with a Quarterback that simply does his job. BYU will need a play-making Quarterback that takes calculated risks and make big plays to pull off a few upsets.

Here's my rebuttal to the original rebuttal: Romney has shown well and deserves the opportunity to prove himself against better competition. His ceiling appears lower, but we can't say for certain until he is given the opportunity to prove himself against the best competition.

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