Jeff Grimes: Zach Wilson “in a position to compete” for starting QB spot versus Hawaii

BYU’s starting QB position is the number one topic for many BYU fans, and offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes addressed that topic extensively in Monday’s “Coordinators’ Corner” show with Greg Wrubell. Here are excerpts of that conversation.

On the chances that Zach Wilson starts versus Hawaii

Jeff Grimes responded that Zach Wilson “is in a position to compete” for the starting job when asked by Greg Wrubell is Wilson may potentially start versus Hawaii.

“It puts him (Zach Wilson) position to compete for that (starting QB spot) for sure,” Grimes responded. “At this point, whether we continue with Tanner, or whether we play Zach early or whether we play Zach a little earlier in the game than we might, those potential scenarios are all on the table at this point.”

Grimes added that the staff would “probably” not announce a QB change before Saturday’s game if coaches decided to go that route.

On how much a QB switch can affect a team

“A great deal. And, honestly, Tanner didn’t play great the other night, but there are a lot of other guys that didn’t play great the other night. That’s why we got our butts whipped severely by Utah State... We had a number of mistakes that just kept us from converting, and particularly on third down—one of nine is ridiculously bad. And certainly Tanner had something to do with that, but he wasn’t the only one and he wasn’t worse than some other guys, either. However, the offense has to produce and it has to move the football consistently and score points. That hasn’t happened the past couple weeks.”

On the proper value to put on Zach’s athleticism compared to Tanner’s

“Well, I think when you have a team like ours that has not shown the ability to make big plays, I think that certainly adds a little bit more weight to that part of his game.”

Jeff Grimes and Ilaisa Tuiaki’s interviews can be viewed in full below.