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PROVO — BYU quarterback Taysom Hill will likely miss the remainder of his senior season after suffering a fracture in his foot in the Cougars' 33-28 road win over Nebraska to open the 2015 season.
Hill completed 21 of 34 passes for 268 yards and a touchdown, and also ran for a team-high 72 yards and two scores on nine carries for BYU (1-0).
Early reports list Hill's injury as a Lisfranc fracture, an injury to the Lisfranc joint in the middle of the foot that involves breaks and tears to bones and ligaments at the base of the metatarsals. The injury, which is often mistaken for a sprain, takes several months to heal and may require surgery to adequately treat, according to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.
"Our athletic training staff said they'd never seen anyone go back and play in the same game once that's happened," head coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "He allowed us to stay within striking distance.
"There's no player or person that I've coached that I care about more than Taysom. So it's bittersweet."
Freshman Tanner Mangum replaced Hill full time in the second half, completing 7-of-11 passes for 111 yards and the game-winning touchdown to Mitch Mathews with no time on the clock in his collegiate debut.
The Eagle, Idaho, native who returned from a two-year LDS Church mission in June will now take control of the offense for the remainder of the year.
"I was very confident from what he had demonstrated so far," Mendenhall said of Mangum. "He hasn't been back for very long. It wasn't a question of ability or capability, it was just a question of how long he could go because he's been back from his mission for such a short amount of time.
"But mentally and physically from an arm-throwing capability and a decision-making process he's really sharp."
Hill previously lost the 2012 and 2014 seasons on knee and leg injuries suffered against Utah State, but the senior from Pocatello, Idaho, was given a clean bill of health entering fall camp and felt no repercussions from a torn anterior cruciate ligament and broken fibula.
True freshmen Beau Hoge and Koy Detmer Jr. are the other two quarterbacks on the depth chart, though sophomore McCoy Hill also recently returned from a leg injury in the spring and began practicing with the team Monday when school started.
Mendenhall said he "hopes" the team can overcome the adversity of losing its senior quarterback and one of only two captains on the 2015 squad.
"The chemistry and the leadership has been good and they've worked hard," he said. "The season will tell but what a great start. I've really enjoyed what I've seen from this team so far even before the game and you hope that leads to execution and consistency now.
"That's a lot better to do after that type of win on the road."
