BYU Wide Receiver Jojo Phillips 'Expected' Back for Texas Tech Game

Reinforcements are on their way to the BYU wide receiver room according to BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick. On Tuesday, Roderick was asked about starting wide receiver Jojo Phillips. Roderick is "expecting" to get Phillips back for the Texas Tech game.

"[Jojo] won't play in this game, but I'm expecting him to play against Texas Tech after the bye...Jojo's getting really close. He's practicing and looking really good out here."

Against Stanford, Phillips left the game with an injury and never returned. Phillips posted on social media later that week, announcing that he had a successful surgery and planned to "be back soon."

Behind Chase Roberts, Phillips was BYU's most productive returning wide receiver from a season ago. Phillips had three catches for 30 yards against the Cardinal prior to the injury, and he was one of Bachmeier's favorite targets during Fall Camp. Prior to the injury, we expected Phillips to have a breakout sophomore season.

In Phillips' absense, Cody Hagen has been added to the starting lineup. However, it's been Parker Kingston that has taken on the role as the second wide receiver behind Roberts. Kingston has 27 receptions for 383 yards through seven games, and he has added 66 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns on the ground. Kingston has averaged 93 receiving yards per game over the last 3 games.

Phillips will add more length and another deep threat to the BYU offense, and it will come at the perfect time. Regardless of the outcome of the Iowa State game this weekend, BYU will be playing at Texas Tech in a game with major conference title implications. The one area where Texas Tech's defense has been susceptible at times? The deep pass game. It was multiple deep passes that allowed Arizona State to get out to a lead and beat the Red Raiders last Saturday.

While Phillips has been out of the lineup, BYU has established a downfield passing attack. Phillips' return to the lineup could allow Aaron Roderick to unleash more of the passing attack. Roderick has been slowly unleashing more and more as Bear Bachmeier gets comfrotable.

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