BYU QB Tanner Mangum said he'd been preparing to play all summer. As BYU's backup quarterback, he was first in line if something happened to starter Taysom Hill.
Mangum couldn't have imagined starting the 2015 season like this though. After Hill was lost for the day (and the season) because of an injury, Mangum threw a Hail Mary touchdown pass with no time left to give the Cougars a 33-28 win over Nebraska.
[Check out Dr. Saturday on Tumblr for things you won’t see on the blog]
Mangum had all day to throw and rolled to his right. He threw it to the goal line and the 42-yard pass was caught by Mitch Matthews for a touchdown.
"I've been preparing for this moment all summer long to be honest," Mangum, who finished 7-11 passing for 111 yards, said after the game. "I just got back from my mission three months ago but I knew all along 'I've got to be ready to go.' I've got to be prepared. So when the time came, I knew I was ready to go. I was prepared to step in and just play."
Hill had 72 yards rushing and two touchdowns before he left the game. He had 268 yards passing, a touchdown through the air and an interception.
BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said after the game that Hill suffered a Lisfranc injury and will miss the remainder of the season. This, after he missed most of the 2014 season with a nasty left leg injury.
The winning touchdown was set up by a missed Nebraska field goal, kicker Drew Brown's second miss of the day. While the field goal would have given Nebraska a four-point lead – a lead still overcome by the Hail Mary – it would have meant BYU would have likely started its game-winning drive with worse field position.
Nebraska quarterback Tommy Armstrong finished the game 24-of-41 passing for 314 yards, three touchdowns and an interception.
For more BYU news, visit CougarNation.com.
For more Nebraska news, visit HuskerOnline.com.
- - - - - - -
Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!