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PROVO — It’s the question expected to dominate the early part of BYU football training camp: will it be Taysom Hill or Tanner Mangum at starting quarterback when the Cougars open the season at Arizona?
The more relevant question may be: is Hill all the way back to full health after his season-ending foot injury and surgery in 2015?
If the answer to the second question is in the affirmative, the answer to the first question may already be determined. If fully healthy, Hill will almost certainly be expected to earn the starting spot for 2016, just as he did in 2015.
Coaches have chosen not to name a starter before camp, and we should anticipate a spirited competition, but perhaps not in the manner most fans foresee.
“They’re not competing against each other,” said new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Ty Detmer. “They’re competing against themselves. They want to be the best players they can be — not just better than the next guy. If you’re really trying to get to the next level, that’s the way it should be. The coaches decide the rest, after that.
“The best guy will play. Tanner obviously had a great year last year. Taysom is one of the best athletes to ever play the position; he brings a whole different dimension to the position. We’ll give them all their opportunities and take it from there.”
“When it comes to competition,” Hill said at BYU Media Day last month, “the competition is with yourself. Tanner’s a great kid and good football player, so it motivates you to work hard and all that. But ultimately at the end of the day, I’m trying to be as good as I possibly can.”
“It’s a healthy competition,” added Mangum during Media Day interviews. “It’s not divisive. It’s not negative. We are both BYU guys, and we are all about the team. We’re on the same team. It’s not Team Tanner or Team Taysom.”
Hill is a fifth-year senior who leads all active FBS QBs in career ground gains, with 2,212 rushing yards. He is the only active FBS QB with 2,000-plus rushing yards and is 10th on BYU’s career rush-yardage list. Through the air, he has accounted for more than 4,500 passing yards in only 25 games, including 21 starts. In those 25 games, he has accounted for 55 touchdowns, including 24 rushing scores. He became one of only eight players in FBS history to rack up 100-plus rushing yards and 400-plus passing yards in the same game, when he ran for 128 and threw for 417 against Houston in 2013.
In the equivalent of less than two full seasons of play, Hill leads all BYU signal callers in career rushing yards, yards per carry and rushing touchdowns. He is second to Doak Walker Award-winning running back Luke Staley in career yards per carry — a notable accomplishment at a position where lost yardage is an accepted cost of doing business.
While clearly a prolific runner, Hill has demonstrated considerable improvement as a passer. In his first full season as a starting quarterback, in 2013, Hill had a touchdown-to-pass ratio of 1.36 to 1, with a pass efficiency rating of 118.15, on a 53.9 percent completion rate.
In 2014, through five starts before a season-ending injury, Hill upped his TD-to-INT ratio to 2.33, while his pass efficiency rating shot up to 141.67, on a 66.7 percent completion rate.
In his only game as a starter last season at Nebraska, Hill completed 21-of-34 passes for 268 yards, with one passing score accompanying two rushing touchdowns. Many of his completions came after returning from the locker room, when his season-ending injury was diagnosed. It would have been an impressive performance from any player on two good legs, let alone a player on only one good wheel for much of the game.
The Cougars were Hill’s team entering that game in Lincoln, and as players and coaches rallied around their crestfallen comrade after the game, it was apparent that Hill remained the heart of the squad, even as his season was cut short.
“He’s been a big part of the team the last few years,” Detmer said. “When he said he was coming back (for another season), the guys erupted and were super excited for him. We definitely wanted him here. He’s definitely earned the right to be able to come back and give it another shot.
“Tanner has got a great attitude. He was as excited as anybody that Taysom made the decision (to return to BYU). He’s a team player.”
In Hill’s absence after his season-ending injury, Mangum, the freshman understudy, was thrust onto center stage in a starring role, and excelled. Only weeks after returning from an LDS mission to Chile, the former Elite 11 Camp MVP entered BYU lore with a last-second Hail Mary touchdown pass at Nebraska, followed by another last-minute game-winning throw the following week, when Mangum found Mitchell Juergens for a fourth-down score to beat Boise State.
Mangum would go on to help BYU to a nine-win season, and became one of only three FBS true freshmen to throw for 3,000 yards or more during the 2015 season. He racked up virtually every BYU freshman quarterbacking record, ending the season having completed 59.9 percent of his passes, with a pass efficiency rating of 136.01. Mangum is not a run threat (minus-96 yards in 2015), but he is mobile enough to move the pocket and can make tough throws while scrambling to either side. It’s evident that Mangum has all that it will take to eventually be one of the best quarterbacks ever to play at BYU.
“Tanner, with an offseason under his belt, is going to be much improved,” Detmer said. “He looks smooth out there and has a good feel for (BYU’s new-look offense).”
The football axiom “if you have two quarterbacks, you have none” does not apply at BYU. The Cougars have two excellent and prolific quarterbacks — one at the end of his career, and one still at the beginning. For that reason, among others, the decision on which quarterback to start should not be that agonizing. Taysom’s time is now. Tanner still has plenty of time remaining.
Over its football history, BYU’s great quarterbacks have frequently had just two seasons, and occasionally three years, to make their name as full-time starters. Jim McMahon, Steve Young and Robbie Bosco successively each recorded two-season stints in which they led the team in passing yardage. Gary Sheide and Gifford Nielsen were two-season standouts, as were John Walsh and Steve Sarkisian. Members of the three-season club include Marc Wilson, Detmer, John Beck and Max Hall.
Had Hill not gotten hurt last season, Mangum would have expected to serve as a backup during his freshman campaign, ideally then taking over as a starter for his sophomore season. Either way, after two seasons, Mangum would likely have been a backup for one and a starter for the other. Should Hill earn and keep the starting job in 2016, very little will have changed for Mangum, except for the order in which his starter/backup seasons occurred.
Beyond the chronological logistics, Hill’s skills and leadership of the program are at a level deserving of starter status. The only uncertainty relates to his physical level of readiness for the rigors of the season ahead. Training camp will tell us, and soon enough, if Hill looks like himself again. If, at any point he is unable to go at full speed, for whatever duration of time, BYU’s backup plan represents one of the most secure safety nets in college football.
“Two is better than one,” Detmer said. “For me, it’s great to have those two guys with experience — most programs don’t have that. We’re in a great situation with the experience we have coming back.
“I couldn’t have walked into a better position than I am right now. Taysom and Tanner are both tremendous quarterbacks with a lot of talent. We know either one is a good option.”
