A Look Back at Kevin Feterik’s Career at BYU

BYU will host an alumni game on March 31 at LaVell Edwards Stadium for fans to see. Fans will recognize the two former Cougar quarterbacks leading the teams. Max Hall leads Team Navy while Kevin Feterik heads Team Royal. This is cause for reflection on the lefty’s solid career in Provo.

Feterik came to BYU despite not being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints due to the prolific quarterback factory LaVell Edwards had created in Provo. Feterik had the daunting task of taking over as starting quarterback following the 1996 season, when Steve Sarkisian led the Cougars to a miraculous 14-1 season and a Cotton Bowl win over Kansas State. BYU lost a lot of production following that season and it was up to Feterik to soften the blow.

The California native did an honorable job, producing three winning seasons in his time as the starter, with an overall record of 23-14. He got better every year he was in Provo. He never had a season below a 61 percent completion percentage and threw for over 6,000 total yards in his final two seasons combined. At times, he was even booed by the home crowd at, then, Cougar Stadium. He didn’t let it stop him from rising to the best he could be.

In 1998, Feterik helped lead the Cougars to a win over No. 14 Arizona State, with 166 passing yards and 37 rushing yards. That year, BYU met up with 10th-ranked Tulane in the Liberty Bowl. Unfortunately, the Green Wave were too much for the Cougars but Feterik held his own, with 267 yards and two touchdowns.

1999 was his best season in Provo and it started with a bang. Hosting the Washington Huskies, Feterik played the game of his life. His teammate and co-captain Rob Morris said after the game, “we were trying to figure out who was wearing Kevin’s uniform out there tonight. We thought we had Jimmy Mac (McMahon) back.”

The Huskies were up 28-27 with under two minutes left when Feterik orchestrated a gutsy go-ahead touchdown drive punctuated by a 38-yard scoring throw to Chris Hale with 1:16 remaining in the game. It was all the Cougars needed to seal the 35-28 victory.

Feterik finished with a whopping 501 passing yards and three touchdowns.

It didn’t end there. The next week, Feterik led the Cougars to a big win over 23rd-ranked Colorado State, 34-13 behind his 310 yards and two scores. He got the Cougars as highly ranked as 15th during that season, before finishing 8-4.

He finished that season with 3,554 passing yards, 25 touchdowns and a 138.9 rating, becoming a finalist for the Davey O’Brien Award, given to the top quarterback in all of college football. After years of ups-and-downs, he had finally put together a season reminiscent of his famous predecessors.

He eventually started one season for the CFL’s Calgary Stampeders before calling it a career.

He currently ranks seventh all-time in passing yards at BYU, ahead of the likes of Steve Young and Zach Wilson. While he is not on the “Mount Rushmore” of BYU quarterbacks in history, he deserves to be recognized as one of the greats. He is too quickly forgotten, with his career smooshed between those of Sarkisian and Brandon Doman. Being featured in the alumni game this week is a cool way for BYU to recognize his accomplishments and get him back in the minds of BYU fans everywhere.