Cade Cooper got hurt, then Brenden Gaskins came in and was the star of Saturday's spring football game.

Who?

It can happen that quickly.

Gaskins, a junior college transfer from Glendale Community College who had taken about a dozen snaps during team drills this spring, completed 19-of-22 passes for 174 yards. He led the No. 2 BYU offense to 10 points, including a 5-yard touchdown pass to junior receiver Reed White to culminate a 97-yard drive.

"I definitely think I was throwing the ball a little harder today," Gaskins said. "Hopefully someone will take notice. I showed the coaches and proved to myself that I can come in and play well."

Cooper, fighting with sophomore Max Hall to earn the right to be the starter in 2007, injured his foot when scrambling after a bad shotgun snap on his first series with the No. 2 offense. He sat out the rest of the game.

"It's the type of sprain that you take X-rays and go from there," Cooper said. "I still feel like a had a great opportunity to win the starting job. They (the coaches) kept their word and let me come in and compete."

Hall moved the No. 1 offense well enough, but couldn't get the Cougars on the scoreboard. One of Hall's drives ended on a missed field goal and another was thwarted by a goal-line interception by junior safety Kellen Fowler. Hall completed 15-of-19 for 139 yards.

"I felt that we (the No. 1 offense) had a good day," Hall said. "We marched the ball down the field and completed balls but couldn't get into end zone. I made a mistake on the one drive. I probably should have thrown the ball away but I was trying to make things happen."

BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall will likely make a decision on the starter sometime next week.

Meanwhile, Gaskins made an impression on the nearly 17,000 Cougar fans at LaVell Edwards Stadium and his performance was also noticed by the man in charge.

"Gaskins was maybe the most positive story of the day," Mendenhall said. "He looked poised, he looked knowledgeable and he looked like he belonged."

Gaskins engineered a 14-play, 61-yard drive on his first series, completing 7-of-8 passes and overcoming two bad shotgun snaps. Freshman Mitch Payne booted a 27-yard field goal for the game's first score.

Later, Gaskins took the No. 2 offense on a 12-play, 97-yard drive that resulted in the touchdown pass to White. The key play on the drive was a 27-yard catch-and-run from Payson product Daniel Tervort.

"There were a lot of key plays in that drive," Gaskins said. "The running backs did great when they got their number called and my offensive line today was outstanding. Tervort had a big gain on a shallow route. You can't do it alone out there. It was a team effort."

Mendenhall said he hoped other young players were watching when Gaskins made the most of his opportunity.

"An injury to any given player can change the season," he said. "Those players waiting in the wings can watch and step up like Brenden did today."

Team identity: Nearly 30 players missed the final spring scrimmage because of various injuries, including almost a dozen expected starters.

"I felt like we had a very productive spring," Mendenhall said. "Was the level of execution and precision where I wanted it? No. Was the level of work and investment where I wanted it? Yes.

"In the fall when you can add (David) Nixon, Ben Criddle and Bryan Kehl to the defense and Fui (Vakapuna), Manase Tonga and Matt Allen to the offense, the chemistry of the team, when some more experience starts to show up, will present a cleaner picture of who we are."

Bronco's assessment of Max Hall: "Max moved the team well and they went up and down the field. He had a few miscues in the blue zone but he showed he's confident, capable and poised. I spent most of my time with the defense during spring but I'm looking forward to assessing the quarterbacks."

The players take over: Senior linebacker Kelly Poppinga said the end of spring means the beginning of the heavy lifting for the players.

"We have to be ready to take the leadership of this team," Poppinga said. "After the scrimmage Coach Mendenhall told us the other guys aren't around anymore. The new leaders of this team need to step up and get things going in the offseason. It's fun when we can take ownership and run the team. That's what made our team so successful last year. That's what I'm so excited about."

Extra points: Announced attendance at this year's spring game was 16,752. ... About 75 high school junior football prospects were on campus on Saturday. ... Payne also missed field goal attempts of 47 and 52 yards.

Daily Herald Sports Editor Darnell Dickson can be reached at 344-2555 or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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