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Brown deserves chance to prove himself |
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brandonjudd | Wednesday, November 5, 2003, 7:09 pm
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Brandon Judd
COUGARBLUE 2
Two broken hands and many interceptions later, it's time for BYU to find itself a backup to Matt Berry.
Why not Jackson Brown? He certainly deserves a chance.
With John Beck out for the rest of the season with a broken hand and Berry's hand still problematic, a good backup is needed at quarterback. Coach Crowton has already indicated that Lance Pendleton, a former signalcaller turned all-purpose player, isn't going to return to his old position to provide depth. That leaves the battle to back up Berry between Brown and Todd Mortensen.
Cast my vote to Brown. Before this last week, I just knew his name and nothing more. Now, I would love to see the walk-on freshman get some more playing time at the end of this tumultuous season.
Look at last week for a perfect example. After Berry left the Boise State game with hand problems and a handful of picks and Beck got knocked out for the year, Mortensen took over in the second half. His stats were hideous, completing 5 of 24 passes for 51 yards and an interception. He even vastly overthrew a wide-open Justin Jory in the endzone.
Brown finally got his chance during that game on the Cougars' last drive. He went 5-for-9 for 57 yards. It doesn't take a mathematician to figure out who performed better that night. Sure, Brown faced Boise State's backup defense, but it only took him one drive to surpass Mortensen's numbers.
Brown then showed he deserves a spot on this team with his performance in the JV game Saturday, a 17-7 win over Georgia Military Academy. He threw for 224 yards on 15-of-41 passing and two touchdowns. More importantly, though, he looked confident and poised on the field.
His two touchdown passes were particularly impressive. On the first one, Brown scrambled out of the pocket and threw a 10-yard strike to Ryan Slater. The best part was that he threw it low so that defenders couldn't get to it. Even Slater had to make a nice catch to get the score.
On the second touchdown, Brown did what other BYU quarterbacks have struggled with this year |
