PROVO — Welcome back, Jamaal Williams.

BYU’s fifth-year senior tailback ran for 131 yards and a touchdown in his first game-action since Oct. 14, and BYU piled up more than 200 yards on the ground to pull away from Utah State, 28-10 in the final home game of the 2016 season at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

“It’s always great going out there and playing football,” Williams said. “Just being out there with your family and your brothers, you let them know you are going 100 percent. I’m grateful to play this last game, with everything we’ve had and this effort. I’m grateful to be on this team.”

For the third-straight home game against Utah State in his BYU career, quarterback Taysom Hill retreated into the locker room with an injury. He completed 10-of-21 passes for 101 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions, and ran for 46 yards on 12 carries.

Hill came down awkwardly after diving over a Utah State’s Gaje Ferguson on a 12-yard run near the goal line with about 13 minutes left in the game.

BYU coach Kalani Sitake said preliminary diagnosis for Hill is a hyperextended elbow. The Cougars have scheduled a medical scan for Monday.

“There is no fracture, but we’ll look at an MRI and get more details on his injury Monday,” Sitake said. “That’s all I know right now, and pretty much all I can say.”

Williams gave the Cougars their first lead of the game on a 2-yard rushing score as the Cougars went up 7-3 to open the second quarter. Williams, who ran for 41 of BYU’s 88 yards in the first quarter, scored his first touchdown since a 31-14 win at Michigan State on Oct. 8.

Michael Shelton scooped up a fumble and returned it 52 yards to put BYU on top, 14-3. But the Aggies responded with 90 seconds left after grabbing their second interception of the first half.

Jalen Davis returned Hill’s pick to the 6-yard line, and Damion Hobbs finished off the drive two plays later with a 2-yard TD run to pull within 14-10 at the break.

Hill threw his first touchdown pass on only his third completion of the second half, a 10-yard strike to Mitchell Juergens, to pull the Cougars ahead 21-10 with 2:19 left in the third quarter.

With the 75th touchdown of his BYU career, Hill broke a tie with former Cougar quarterback Steve Young for the fifth-most touchdowns in school history. He left the game early after falling awkwardly on his elbow on BYU’s first drive of the fourth quarter.

Backup quarterback Tanner Mangum spelled Hill with a five-yard touchdown strike to senior Colby Pearson on his only official pass attempt of the game.

“It wasn’t a perfect game, but I’m just happy with a win over Utah State,” Sitake said. “They came out ready to play, and were motivated to get that win. We had some issues that we could’ve taken care of, and it could’ve been a lot cleaner for us later in the game.

“I like the way we played in the second half, defensive especially.”

Kent Myers completed 12 passes for 103 yards and ran for 42 yards for Utah State, which finished the season at 3-9 — it’s worst season since 2008.

Here are three quick thoughts from Senior Night at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

Taysom Hill’s bad luck vs. Aggies

Hill wasn’t playing great at quarterback for most of the three quarters Senior Night in Provo. But just as he was starting to get into rhythm, the fifth-year senior exited the game with his third injury against the Aggies at home.

The Pocatello, Idaho native left the game on the first drive of the fourth quarter, clutching his left elbow and surrounded by the BYU medical staff. In four games against Utah State, the Pocatello, Idaho native has finished just once — a 31-14 victory in Logan in 2013. All three of his injuries against the Aggies have come in Provo.

That’s not to say Utah State has done anything to cause such injuries to Hill; each one has been a fluke accident, with torn ligaments in his knee, a broken leg and now a left elbow injury that saw him spend the final quarter in a sling Saturday night.

“That’s my quarterback. He’s been through worse,” Williams said of Hill. “You just have to check on him, make sure he’s good, and he’s fine. We’re not really worrying about it right now.”

Jamaal’s return, just in time for Senior Night

It was going to take a lot to hold him out of senior night, and Sitake’s prognostication of BYU running back Jamaal Williams proved correct.

The fifth-year senior joined his mother during the Cougars’ pregame ceremony honoring its 21 seniors, and he was in uniform and on the field for the first time in three games to take snaps on BYU’s first offensive drive of the game.

The Cougars’ all-time leading rusher ran for 131 yards and a touchdown, and paced a BYU run game that has gotten better since a 1-3 start to the season before piling up 249 rushing yards in the season finale.

“We started out a little slow, but once we got everything going and knew what we were doing, we started picking things up. We finished strong, and that’s just what I wanted our team to do. From how we started and how we finished, that’s what I expected.”

Former BYU players make plays against BYU

Just hours after former BYU basketball player Isaac Neilson scored a career-high 26 points in Utah Valley’s 114-101 upset in the Marriott Center, former BYU defensive back Dallin Leavitt intercepted Taysom Hill.

Leavitt’s pick didn’t do much on the scoreboard, as the BYU defense forced the Aggies to punt. But the remarkable fire and zeal with which ex-BYU athletes play against their former team should be noted. “Honestly, it felt good,” Leavitt said. “Being dinged up all season, I finally felt good this game for the first time in a long time. The reason I feel it was more satisfying is because of all the time we put in during the week. We watched a lot of film and we knew exactly what they were going to run and I was able to read his eyes.”

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