BYU football: QB Nelson out for season with shoulder injury

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Provo • An excruciatingly difficult decision for BYU football coach Bronco Mendenhall that took root last December when superstar prep quarterback Jake Heaps signed with the Cougars was made for the coach on Tuesday afternoon with the stunning announcement that junior quarterback Riley Nelson needs surgery to repair an injured shoulder and is out for the remainder of the season.

Nelson, who started BYU's first three games, originally suffered the injury in fall camp, then re-injured the shoulder in the first series of Saturday's 34-10 loss to Florida State, Mendenhall said after practice Tuesday night.

"Looking at the MRI, [the fact] that he made it this long is pretty impressive, just because he is so dang tough," Mendenhall said. "But that's where it stands."

So the starting quarterback job is turned over to Heaps, who rotated series with Nelson the entire first game against Washington and the first half of the second game, against Air Force. Heaps played the entire second half against the Seminoles last Saturday after Nelson threw a second-quarter interception, and was seemingly headed toward getting the starting job eventually anyway, given Mendenhall's comments on Monday.

The freshman called the injury to Nelson "really unfortunate" and "a bummer" and said he feels for the junior who has supported him since the battle to become BYU's starting quarterback started last spring. But Heaps called his newfound opportunity "surreal and exciting" and said he's ready to step into the starter's role.

"You know, that's why I came here," Heaps said. "I didn't come here to take half of it, or to not be the guy. I came here to hopefully be the guy, and hopefully, when the time was right, to lead the team. And right now it happened, and it was under unfortunate circumstances, but it is an exciting opportunity for me and I am going to work as hard as I can. Like I said, it means a lot to me."

Trainer Kevin Morris called Nelson's injury a "severe shoulder injury" and more than just a torn labrum, but said he prefers to wait until after the surgery to discuss the extent of the injury in depth.

Mendenhall said Nelson had the MRI on Monday, but still practiced that afternoon. He said he met with Nelson around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday morning, and the decision was made at that time for Nelson to have surgery, which Morris said will happen as soon as possible, perhaps later this week. The coach said the team loses Nelson's experience, leadership ability and, of course, skills as a running quarterback.

"We were going to continue to keep playing two [quarterbacks] and shift a lot more of the critical repetitions in the critical situations to Riley. So I think he is as disappointed as I am, and our team is," Mendenhall said.

Redshirt sophomore James Lark becomes Heaps' backup. Lark, who has been Nelson's roommate on road trips, said he knew Nelson took some hard hits in the FSU game, but that he didn't complain at all or say he was in pain the rest of the weekend.

Heaps got all the reps in the team portions of Tuesday's practice, Lark said.

Mendenhall said Nelson is eligible for a medical redshirt because he has played in fewer than four games this season. The school will submit the paperwork for a waiver when the season is over.

The coach described Nelson as a fierce competitor who intends to return in time for spring ball and rejoin the starting quarterback battle.

"I think he wants to come back, I think he wants to play here, and I think he wants to play quarterback," Mendenhall said. "That's what I would like to see happen as well."

drew@sltrib.com Twitter: @drewjay, @sltribbyu —