BYU quarterback Tanner Mangum reminds UCLA Coach Jim Mora of Johnny Manziel

Jim Mora, UCLA’s football coach, might not have known who Tanner Mangum was three weeks ago. But he surely does now.

Mangum came off the bench for Brigham Young two weeks ago against Nebraska, replacing injured starter Taysom Hill, to heave a Hail Mary pass that resulted in a last-second victory.

With Hill out for the season, Mangum started against Boise State last week and threw another final-minute touchdown pass to earn the Cougars an upset victory.

“He makes plays down the field,” Mora said. “He’s got kind of those Johnny Manziel qualities. He runs around and slings it and they come up with it.”

UCLA, which faces Mangum and the No. 19-ranked Cougars on Saturday night at the Rose Bowl, is responding with an emphasis on discipline this week.

“He’s a guy who can force you to cover for a long time,” Mora said. “You have to keep him in the pocket. When he gets out of the pocket, he makes plays down the field.”

Mangum passed for 309 yards and two touchdowns, with two interceptions, against Boise State in his first college start.

Hill sent Mangum a text message before the Boise State game.

“He said good luck and no matter what happens out there, if it doesn’t go your way, it’s how you respond in those moments that will establish you as a leader,” Mangum said. “That means a lot, because a lot of things go wrong in the game. You make mistakes and things don’t go your way, but you have to keep your head up and keep fighting.”

Mora has seen the keep-fighting gene in Mangum.

“We have to play the entire play,” Mora said. “We can’t assume a play is over when you’re in the secondary.”

Fresh talk

Both UCLA and BYU have first-year freshmen starting at quarterback — Mangum and the Bruins’ Josh Rosen.

“Both players are highly recruited and showing that they should have been,” BYU Coach Bronco Mendenhall said.

Mendenhall left out one little detail. Mangum was highly recruited four years ago. He is 22 years old, having stepped away from football after high school to serve a Mormon mission in Chile.

Rosen is 18 and fresh out of Bellflower St. John Bosco High.

“You look at their team and it’s really interesting to see the age of some of their guys compared our guys,” Mora said. “[Mangum] has a certain maturity to him that comes with the four extra years he has had in life that some of our guys don’t.”

Rosen, who passed for 351 yards and three touchdowns against Virginia in the opener, struggled some last Saturday against Nevada Las Vegas. He finished with 223 yards passing and one touchdown, with one interception.

“I think I was like everyone else probably, you get a little jaded by that first game,” Mora said. “You expect it to look like that every week and it’s not going to.”

Injury update

Center Jake Brendel left the field a half-hour into practice Tuesday to get treatment on his injured foot. The fifth-year senior, a linchpin on the offensive line, played only the first half against UNLV.

Brendel’s foot was injured last week during practice when it was stepped on, and it happened again during the game.

Mora said Brendel’s experience would make up for any practice time he misses. “He needs some; everybody needs some,” Mora said. “But Jake is so smart and he has been doing it for so long that he is different from a guy who hadn’t played much. He will get more work as the week goes on and he’ll be ready to go on Saturday.”

Follow Chris Foster on Twitter @cfosterlatimes