BYU's Hill must change to stay healthy

BYU's Hill must change to stay healthy

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PROVO — Next season, if he’s healthy and able to play, will look much different, vows Taysom Hill.

Skeptics wonder.

The dynamic Hill, whose football season ended prematurely with a major injury for the second time in three years, spoke to the media last week for the first time since suffering a fractured leg on Oct. 3 during BYU’s loss to Utah State. At that time he indicated a desire to alter his style at quarterback and not seek to run as much.

“If he doesn’t (change), he’ll get hurt again,” said former BYU offensive coordinator and quarterback Brandon Doman. “It’s imperative that it changes.”

But will it?

Hill became BYU’s best athlete — possibly ever — as soon as he joined the football team after coming home from a church mission three years ago. Shortly after getting a chance to play as a freshman it became obvious he was a quarterback with a rare combination of size and speed.

After suffering a serious knee injury midway through his freshman year, Hill individually produced 4,282 yards of total offense — including rushing for 1,344 yards — in 2013. He gained national acclaim for gaining 259 yards on the ground in a blowout win over Texas.

But the knock on Hill was his passing, as proven by the 30 incompletions he threw in a loss to Utah one week after his scintillating performance against Texas. He also often put up good individual numbers against the better competition on BYU’s schedule — namely, Wisconsin, Notre Dame and Washington — but the offense usually had trouble getting into the end zone.

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Recognizing the need to improve, Hill and the BYU coaches spent considerable time on the passing game during the offseason. But his legs still remained an integral part of BYU’s offense this season.

“His instincts are going to tell him to run mostly because he’s too good at it,” said former Utah State quarterback and college assistant coach Riley Jensen.

“It’s always going to be hard for him not to want to run. But I will say this, Steve Young figured it out. It took him a few years into the pros to figure it out. … I think Taysom can figure it out if he wants to, even in the heat of the battle.”

This is where Hill’s coaches come in. If it’s imperative that Hill’s style changes, as Doman said, then coach Bronco Mendenhall and offensive coordinator Robert Anae need to eliminate the read option and quarterback draws from BYU’s offense.

Also a note runner in high school and college, Doman has no problem with Hill using his legs in scramble situations, when he’s able to square up his shoulders against the defense. But the other running plays have to cease for Hill to make it through his senior season.

The read option gives the quarterback the choice to hand off the ball to the running back or keep it himself. History has proven which choice Hill often makes.

“The coaches have to reprogram themselves,” Jensen said. “Guys are competitors, they’re going keep the ball more often than not. I think they’ve got to really kind of revamp how they use him in this offense and make sure he’s not running in too many situations.”

To his credit, Hill gets it. He said the injury against Utah State was a fluke that “could happen to anybody,” but at the same time he’s got to reduce the chances of getting hurt.

BYU’s hurry-up offense, which increases of the number of plays run in games, also puts Hill at a greater risk of injury. At the same time, his sport is violent.

“At the end of the day, it’s football,” he said. “I know every day when I put the helmet on, there’s a likelihood that I could get injured. Going forward, though, I would like to do everything that I can to minimize that risk.”

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