PROVO — It is no mistake that Taysom Hill and Jamaal Williams have been named to the Maxwell Award watch list and to their respective CFPA position watch lists. They finished the 2013 season as the only quarterback-running back tandem in the country to be ranked in the top-25 of rushing yards leaders at 19th and 25th respectively.

Both also represent one of only two schools to have two rushers in the top-25 of rushing yards, the other being the University of Wisconsin's Melvin Gordon and James White at ninth and 14th respectively. What are the expectations for Hill and Williams going into the 2014 season?

Taysom Hill

Last season, Hill was one of three quarterbacks in the top 25 —19th in rushing yards in the country. He ran for 1,344 yards on 246 attempts, averaging 5.5 yards per carry, with a long run of 68 yards, and 10 touchdowns. He already leads the Cougars in quarterback rushing at 1,680 yards and is just four touchdowns short of Steve Young's 18 touchdowns as a quarterback.

In spring training, head coach Bronco Mendenhall stated, "Our pass game has to catch up with our run game." For that reason, it is hard to imagine that Hill will reprise his role as a top-25 rusher. In 2013, Hill completed 53.8 percent of his passes and had a 118.15 quarterback efficiency rating (in five Cougar losses Hill's average completion percentage was a paltry 45 percent).

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Hill simply has to improve his passing game, and that is just what he has done in the offseason, working with former BYU quarterback John Beck and current quarterbacks coach Jason Beck to improve his throwing mechanics and how he anticipates plays. That showed in the spring scrimmage when Hill completed 70 percent of his passes, above his 65 percent goal for the spring and upcoming season. Of course that was spring ball, but it is still improvement.

Things look good for Hill's passing game to leap forward. It is the team's second season in the offensive coordinator's Go Fast, Go Hard scheme. Hill has had a healthy offseason and has not worried about the strength of his knee. The receivers will be bigger and faster than they were last season. The schedule is in BYU's favor. Last but not least, Hill himself has improved as a passer.

Taysom Hill's roll will be reduced as a rusher this upcoming season, but that will be more than offset by improvements in his passing game. Expect him to still run, both on designed and broken plays, just not as much as last year. Opposing teams had a difficult time defending him last season when he took to his feet. This season they still need to respect his rushing ability, but his improved passing game will make him all the harder for them to defend.

Jamaal Williams

Last season, Jamaal Williams was 25th in rushing yards in the country. He ran for 1,233 yards on 217 attempts, averaging 5.7 yards per carry, with a long run of 70 yards and 7 touchdowns. He also missed one game due to injury. Williams is currently 10th in career rushing yards at BYU and with another 1,448 yards more, he will be No. 1. Currently, Harvey Unga holds that record with 3,455 career rushing yards.

Robert Anae set the standard for Williams at BYU Football Media Day when he said, "I've already apologized to Harvey, because his record is going down." Williams appreciates expectation of his offensive coordinator and looks forward to the challenge. "I'm happy he said it because it gives me a challenge," Williams said.

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This past spring, Williams ran the 100M, 200M and 4X100M relay for the BYU men's track team. It wasn't easy to convince Mendenhall to allow him to join the track team, particularly because of an injury Adam Hine suffered a couple of years ago when he was high jumping for BYU track and field. It helped that track and field assistant coach Kyle Grossarth is also an assistant strength and conditioning coach in the athletic department and has worked with Williams for the last couple of years.

Williams ran track in high school and has been eager to get back to it at BYU. He said, “I know that if I do this right, it will be easier to get long runs than I had last year," which is exactly what he will need to do if he is to become the career rushing yards leader at BYU this fall.

There is a difference between running on a track and running in pads on a field, with guys trying to tackle you, but speed is speed. If Williams can improve his speed, then it will translate into more yards and more touchdowns. "It could become a natural occurence to take it all the way," he stated.

It will be difficult for Hill and Williams to both be in the top-25 rushers nationally due to Hill's anticipatedly reduced role as a rusher and increased role as a passer, but the Cougars will be better for it. Hill should become a far more dynamic and increasingly difficult to defend quarterback. Williams is expected to expand his role as the leading rusher this year for the Cougars. If these two players match their coaches' expectations, then the Cougars should be able to easily reach a double-digit win season this fall.

Paul Greenhalgh graduated from Weber State University with a bachelor's degree in history. He is now a high school history teacher and writes for Vanquishthefoe.com.

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