Learning Experience : Feterik’s Play Ends BYU Quarterback Debate

Kevin Feterik’s journey as Brigham Young’s quarterback took an unexpected turn, one that caught him off guard, something that never touched him during his high school days at Los Alamitos.

Quarterback controversy.

Not that there’s much of a controversy today for Feterik, who will play Thursday in the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tenn., when BYU takes on 11th-ranked Tulane. That’s what a seven-game winning streak will do to the naysayers in Provo and elsewhere.

But for six weeks, Feterik was exasperated, playing poorly, hearing boos, the subject of columnists, talk shows and letters to the editor.

“We’re like the pro football team in the state,” Feterik said. “There aren’t too many things that go on around here. Everyone has their own opinion, especially when it comes to quarterback.”

Ty Detmer, Jim McMahon, Steve Young, Robbie Bosco, John Walsh, Marc Wilson . . . the list goes on of Cougar quarterbacks who assault secondaries on their way to the NFL. Feterik, a starter last season, will join Detmer next year as the only quarterback to start three years at BYU. It’s heady company, but Feterik is finding out that with the position comes the accountability.

“It was real frustrating, especially when the team was not winning and you feel you can play better,” Feterik said. “I got past that. I learned a lot of things, that you have to take the good with the bad, everything’s not always going to be great, there are going to be rough times in your life.

“It’s the first time I ever really had a rough time. It was probably the hardest six weeks of my life with the team not winning and me not playing well. But I kept a positive attitude and remembered my days at Los Al and how successful I can be.”

Feterik’s days at Los Alamitos were the complete opposite of the early days of the 1998 season.

At Los Alamitos, Feterik was a two-time Times Orange County All-County quarterback, one of only six players in county history to pass for more than 6,000 yards in a career (6,222). He took Los Alamitos to the Southern Section Division I semifinals twice.

During his junior and senior seasons at Los Alamitos, the Griffins were 23-3.

He lost that many in the first five games this season and found himself embroiled in controversy with sophomore Drew Miller. Never mind that receivers dropped 19 passes in the first two games, or that he was sacked 13 times in the first three games, against Alabama, Arizona State and Washington.

But it came to a head when Miller didn’t play in a 20-10 loss at Washington in front of his hometown fans after Coach LaVell Edwards told him he would play. Miller considered leaving the program and suddenly became the fan favorite.

The quarterbacks began platooning the next game against Murray State, where Feterik was booed loudly with his parents in attendance in a 43-9 victory.

“They were pretty shook up about it,” Feterik said of Michael and Terri Feterik of Huntington Beach. “But they figured it was time for me to be a man, either step up or fall back.”

Miller separated his shoulder against Fresno State (a 31-21 loss), but played the next week against Nevada Las Vegas. He took a pounding, and it was his last appearance.

Meanwhile, Feterik went on a tear. He passed for 319 yards and two touchdowns against UNLV and BYU began a seven-game winning streak that ended with a 20-13 loss to Air Force in the Western Athletic Conference championship game.

“I think [teammates] were in agreement I should be the starter. They were very supportive,” Feterik said. “I never heard one negative thing from a teammate. But when an offense struggles, the quarterback doesn’t look good and that’s what happened. We were all to blame. It’s never just one guy. The team knew that. Everyone on the outside thinks it’s just the quarterback.”

Feterik was sacked 37 times--the third-highest total in BYU history--which doesn’t support him being the sole problem.

Still, Feterik completed 60% of his passes and had 16 touchdowns, averaged 209.1 yards per game and threw only six interceptions this season.

Since Miller’s injury, Feterik has thrown 13 touchdown passes, averaged 247.8 yards, and had only three interceptions. He was second team all-conference.

Feterik can make those boos a distant memory if he can lift BYU (9-4) to victory over Tulane (11-0), one of only two undefeated teams (along with Tennessee) in NCAA Division I.

But his task got much more difficult when running back Ronney Jenkins was expelled for his second violation of the school’s honor code. Jenkins allegedly committed a sexual transgression of the honor code, which includes prohibitions on premarital sex and the use of alcohol, tobacco or illegal drugs. Jenkins and cornerback Heshimu Robertson already had been suspended from the Liberty Bowl.

Jenkins, “our go-to guy,” Feterik said, averaged 5.2 yards per carry and scored 15 touchdowns. Robertson, Feterik said, “could be an All-American next season.”

Those aren’t the kinds of losses one needs going against Tulane. “You hate to lose two guys like that for a bowl game,” Feterik said. “[Jenkins] keeps people off-balance because he’s so fast, and [Robertson] is a great cornerback, so it hurts not having him, especially against a team like Tulane.

“It puts more responsibility on me and the wide receivers. We’ll have to pass a bit more, which is fine.”

For Feterik, it’s just one more challenge.