Back during the early years of the Lavell era BYU also had a JV team that played games against other squads. Nielsen, Wilson, McMahon, & Young all played their Freshman year on the JV squad, learning the offense in practice and actual games. The JV program was disbanded around 1990 due to the problem in finding other schools to play. Crowton tried to reinstate it in 2002 with a one year (two game) experiment playing against Dixie College.

Neilsen was QB of the JV team his Freshman year (1973) and lettered in basketball in both 1973 & 74). He red shirted in football in 1974 when Gary Sheide was a Sr.

Nielsen then started for the next three years until injured against Oregon State in game 4 of his senior year. I was at that game. Wilson started the next week as a sophomore and three for 7 TDs against CSU to set a WAC record. The next year (1978) he split starts with Jim McMahon, but still was named WAC offensive player of the week twice. McMahon red-shirted the next year and Wilson started all the games during his Sr year.

McMahon, played in every game as a Freshman (punter), and has some QB opportunities in a couple of games, split time with Wilson his sophomore year, and was the starter for his Jr, & Sr year.

All of these QBs started for a significant portion of three years.

Steve Young backed up McMahon (Sr) during his sophomore year. He started a couple of games when McMahon was injured, passing for over 300 yds during his first start against USU. He then started his Jr & Sr years.

I see no evidence that the lack of starting as a Freshman was due to a "learning curve". Each of these guys had an experienced and very successful QB ahead of them. McMahon splitting time with Wilson was the only real time that a more inexperienced QB started ahead of the experienced guy. Wilson lost his starting spot after a bad loss to USU and regained it after a close loss to Utah, when McMahon was injured.

And then we have Detmer who started a couple of games as a Frosh and split time with Covey during many other games.

NOTE: Curiously, in 1981, while quarterbacking the BYU JV team against UNLV, Steve Young ran a Wishbone offense, and ran for 95 yards.