Cougars’ QB pedigree inspires Nelson

Riley Nelson is going old school.

The Brigham Young senior, who today will complete his first spring practice as the Cougars' starting quarterback, has been studying history to try to enhance his future.

"I think everyone has this idea of what it was like in the past," Nelson said of BYU's illustrious line of successful quarterbacks. "If you look at all the quarterbacks that have come through, they were all different guys and they all played different styles. But what they did do was produce, and I think that is what it means to be a BYU quarterback."

Nelson helped produce a 10-win season last year, going 8-1 after taking the job from struggling sophomore Jake Heaps. The native of Logan, Utah, is preparing for his final season by studying the success of his predecessors beginning with Virgil Carter, BYU's first All-America quarterback in 1966.

"I've dusted off the film and sat and analyzed each one of those guys," he said of Carter, Gary Sheide, Gifford Nielsen, Marc Wilson, Jim McMahon, Steve Young, Robbie Bosco, Ty Detmer and others. "Each one was different and unique, but they led the Cougars to wins. That is the tradition I hope to follow: leading us to wins."

Nelson's scrambling ability and his left-handed passing brings natural comparisons to Young, who played at BYU between 1981 and 1983.

"Steve was a lot faster than me, a lot better runner than me. I just get what I get," said Nelson, who rushed for 392 yards and a touchdown last season. "He was a much more gifted athlete than I ever hope to be."

Still, with camp ending and expectations for 2012 soaring, Nelson's confidence is holding steady.

"I'm not satisfied," he said. "I look at it as I have four more months to get better and then keep getting better throughout the season. I'm happy where I am at right now."

■ VAN NOY HEALING -- Standout linebacker Kyle Van Noy is optimistic his surgically repaired shoulder is healing and he will be a full participant during summer conditioning drills. The junior from Reno missed spring practice after suffering a torn labrum in last season's loss to Texas Christian.

"We are going to grind like we have never grinded here before," Van Noy said of the team's players-only summer workouts. "We are going to take it to another level.'

BYU's 2-2 start last season is serving as motivation.

"We will hopefully be peaking before fall camp," Van Noy added. "We are not going to take three games to get into it. We want to roll right from the start."

■ STAYING DEFENSIVE -- Coach Bronco Mendenhall will continue his duties as defensive coordinator this season, and beyond.

"I'm having so much fun doing it," he said. "I have great assistant coaches and I've shifted a ton of responsibility to them. I have no intention of stepping away from that, and the players like it."

Mendenhall surrendered his defensive coordinator's role after becoming head coach in 2005, but took back the reins in 2010 following a devastating 31-16 loss at Utah State.

■ IMPROVING OPPONENTS -- BYU begins its second season as an independent in football with road trips to Boise State, Utah, Georgia Tech and Notre Dame.

"Our players want to play the very best teams on the biggest stages, and that is where the program currently is," Mendenhall said. "We are going to schedule and play as many of these teams as we can. That's the next phase of us moving the program forward."

The Cougars have games scheduled against Texas (2013 and 2014), Georgia Tech (2013, 2014), Notre Dame (2013, 2014), Boise State (2013, 2014 and 2015), Nebraska (2015) and Virginia Tech (2016).

■ SPRING SPECIAL -- BYUtv (Cable 352) will produce an hourlong special on the Cougars football program featuring Mendenhall, Cougars athletic director Tom Holmoe and several current and former players. The show will air Monday at 5 and 8 p.m. on BYUtv.

Dave McCann is a morning news anchor on KLAS-TV (Channel 8). He hosts "True Blue" at 5 p.m. Monday on BYUtv (Cable 352) and is the play-by-play voice for BYUtv. He can be reached at dmccann@8newsnow.com and on Twitter: @davemccann8.