BYU Football: Why did BYU target Cade Fennegan and Nick Billoups?

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BOCA RATON, FLORIDA – DECEMBER 22: Zach Wilson #1 and the BYU Football wait to take the field prior to the game against the Central Florida Knights at FAU Stadium on December 22, 2020 in Boca Raton, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) /

BYU Football offered Boise State transfer Cade Fennegan a scholarship to play for the Cougars.

Jaren Hall, Baylor Romney, Jacob Conover, Sol Jay Maiava-Peters.

As of Tuesday evening those were the quarterbacks for BYU Football. All of sudden however, with the addition of Utah transfer Nick Billoups and Boise State transfer Cade Fennegan, the Cougars now have six quarterbacks with none of them being more than a sophomore.

While Billoups seems to make sense to add given he has already played at the safety position and was a walk-on addition for the Cougars, one has to wonder why Fennegan was added to the roster, on scholarship no less.

While we may never get an exact answer, there are three likely reasons.

1. BYU Likes to Have a Big QB Room

Outside of 2020, the last time that BYU Football had a quarterback make it through an entire season without needing a change was back in 2013 with Taysom Hill. Before that, you have to back to the Max Hall days.

With only four quarterbacks on the roster (Rhett Reilly and Jake Jensen transferred out this off season), the Cougars were only a few injuries away from not having a scout team quarterback. While a backup can play the scout team quarterback, it is much better to have guys who are either focused on getting into the game or helping prepare the team’s defense for the next opponent.

Also, in seasons like 2017, the Cougars actually had to use four quarterbacks which of course is an outlier year, but it may have made Sitake feel uneasy about the potential of running out of quarterbacks if injuries stacked up.

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