College Career
Beck served a Mormon mission prior to his collegiate career, and in 2003, as a 22-year old true freshman, he earned Academic All-Mountain West Conference (MWC) honors and competed in eight games, including four starts, becoming only the second true freshman to start at quarterback in Brigham Young history (vs. Stanford), completing 22-of-45 attempts for a season-high 279 yards against the Cardinal, including a season-long 56-yard bomb to Rodney Wilkerson. His first career victory occurred on October 4, leading the Cougars to a 44-36 win at San Diego State. He later saw action at fourth-ranked USC, completing one pass for 12 yards and carrying the ball four times for 29 yards.
While a sophomore, in 2004, Beck earned second-team All-Mountain West honors and started at quarterback in 10 of the Cougars' 11 games during the season. He broke the Mountain West Conference and Brigham Young single-game record with 67 pass attempts against UNLV on October 8 and currently holds the MWC single-game sophomore record with 34 completions against UNLV. Beck averaged a MWC-best 261.0 yards per game against league opponents and averaged 233.0 yards per game against all opponents. He was named the MWC Offensive Player of the Week after leading the Cougars to a 41-24 win over Air Force. Against San Diego State, Beck posted Brigham Young's highest quarterback rating since early in the 2001 season at 204.8. He also passed the 3,000-yard mark as a sophomore, ranking as the Cougars' third most prolific sophomore quarterback, while passing for at least one 50+ yard completion in six of eleven games.
As a junior, in 2005, Beck was an All-Mountain West Conference first-team selection, named Academic All-MWC and named team offensive MVP. He threw for a league-best 3,709 yards, marking the most yards by a Brigham Young quarterback since Brandon Doman threw for over 3,500 yards in 2001. Beck was ranked fifth nationally with a league-best 309.1 yards-per-game average, including a league-high 517 yards in a loss to TCU on Sept. 24. Beck was twice named the MWC Offensive Player or the Week. He also set MWC single-game records with (i) 41 completions (vs. Boston College on September 3) and (ii) 517 yards passing (vs. TCU on September 24). He tied a MWC single-game record with five TD's (vs. TCU on September 24) and was ranked second all-time in the Mountain West with 7,136 career passing yards and first in the Mountain West with 3,709 yards in 2005. Beck was a 2005 Davey O'Brien Award candidate and rated as the top passing quarterback in the MWC by Street & Smith's. College Football News listed Beck as one of the top-30 players in the Mountain West Conference, while Phil Steele's College Football Preview ranked him as one of the top-40 quarterbacks in the country.
As a senior, in 2006, Beck was ranked as the 2nd best quarterback in the country by ESPN as measured in quarterback efficiency ratings (173.27) and 5th best season leader in passing by CBS. He led Brigham Young to a record of 10-2, with a 8-0 record in the Mountain West Conference. He was a finalist for the Davey O'Brien and Unitas Golden Arm Awards, and created buzz on the Heisman watch lists. One site that tracks college football had him #4 on the Heisman watch list. He was named the Walter Camp Football Foundation National Offensive Player of the week following the come-from-behind victory over Utah on the last game of the 2006 season.
On November 25, 2006, Beck led the Cougars to his first victory over in-state rival Utah Utes, and Brigham Young's first in five years, by completing a TD pass to TE Jonny Harline as time expired. With three seconds left on the clock, Beck dropped back, shuffled left, was pressured by a late blitzing linebacker, and then scrambled right (nearly 11 seconds in all) before throwing back across the field to Harline, who was standing alone in the end zone. Beck finished the game with 375 passing yards and 4 TD's.
Beck led the Cougars to their first bowl win since 1996, a 38-8 romp over the Oregon Ducks in the Las Vegas Bowl, at the end of the 2006 season. The win was made in large part because of Beck and tight end Jonny Harline. Beck totaled 375 yards and two scores and also had 26 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Harline, Beck's main target, was named the MVP after a 181 yard and 1 touchdown performance.
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