Cougar Tracks: BYU QB Hill out for the season

BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall on Monday confirmed that freshman QB Taysom Hill sustained a season-ending injury in Friday night's home win over Utah State.

Following what the coach called a "miscommunication" that led to Hill running the ball on the game's third-to-final play, Hill took a direct hit on his left knee, hyperextending the joint. The resulting injuries were damage to the LCL and a hamstring tendon, as well as what is being called a "deeper ligament connection." Head trainer Jeff Hurst termed it "a complex lateral injury" that will require surgery sometime in the next week.

Recovery time is expected to be four to six months.

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You can hear post-practice media sessions with Mendenhall, Offensive Coordinator Brandon Doman, Hurst, starting quarterback Riley Nelson and backup quarterback James Lark in "Cougar Cuts," above left.

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Of the crucial play on which Hill was injured, Mendenhall says Hill received from the sideline a "pretty clear" rolling hand signal, to indicate that the clock was rolling. The coach says Hill took that as an indication to run a called play. Mendenhall says Hill "took his eyes away," when the "victory" formation (kneel-down) call was signaled in, "and got hurt."

"Miscommunication," said Mendenhall to a media throng after Monday's practice in Provo. "I'm responsible for anything that happens when one of our guys gets hurt, so that's what happened. It's really unfortunate; cleaner communication on our part needs to be done. One or two seconds could have saved everything."

"It's not (Hill's) fault, it's our fault."

Doman says on the final play sequence, he told Hill to let the clock run down, "and he misinterpreted what I said to him."

"It's a great excuse, or a great explanation, but it doesn't make anybody feel any better," said Doman. "He called a play and went running to the line of scrimmage, I asked Coach (Mendenhall) to call a time-out, and he didn't get to the ref in time."

"All of the circumstances leading up to it...it's my fault, at least that's how I feel. I'm responsible for that, and I don't know that I'll ever get over him getting injured the way that he did and the circumstances of how it happened."

Doman called his mea culpa "just an explanation of something that was poorly handled and miscommunicated."

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Mendenhall said he hopes to have Hill back and ready for spring football; Hurst said "we'll just kind of cross that bridge when we come to it...maybe a possibility for some limited stuff."

"But in talking to Coach Doman today," Hurst said, "he said 'man, I just want to the kid to be right, and whatever we have to do to get there, that's what we'll do.'"

While calling the injury "unique," Hurst said that "I've seen guys recover well from it and be able to play and be fast and change direction and do all that. So, I think it's definitely something he can recover from, and given his work ethic and his ability to put his mind to something, I can see that happening no problem with Taysom."

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Asked about whether he suspected Hill was seriously hurt in the game's immediate aftermath, Mendenhall said on Monday that "I didn't think (Hill) was hurt at all," until receiving a text mid-day on Saturday, following an MRI. "I didn't think there was any issue," before that, Mendenhall said.

Doman said "when I saw him take the hit, I knew he was hurt. I just didn't know how severe. When I went out on the field to talk to him, I knew he was hurting."

Hurst said that in describing the hit, Hill told him "man, I just didn't see that guy, he came out of nowhere. My foot was down and I didn't have time to adjust."

Mendenhall said he spent a brief time with Hill on Monday afternoon, after he had received a second medical opinion confirming the original findings. Mendenhall said he explained that he intended to take responsibility for the injury in comments to the media, and "I think he didn't know what to think about that."

"He just thought (the injury) was an unfortunate thing, but you know, it's news, and so I let him know what I was going to say, and I think that made him feel good."

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With Hill out, Riley Nelson retakes his place in the starting lineup for Saturday's home game with Oregon State, which was Mendenhall's stated intention before the Hill injury.

Mendenhall said Nelson, who missed the last two games while recovering from a back injury, took all of the primary practice reps on Monday, "and that will be the case, most likely all week."

Mendenhall said Nelson was "close" to being ready to play last week, and that "if there is a silver lining, (it's that) with the injuries, one (player) is going out, while another is coming back. Riley is feeling much better. I would assume by the time we get to Saturday, it will be (100%)."

Asked about the spate of injuries behind center, Nelson on Monday said "football is a brutal, violent game and it's not for the faint of heart. We're rolling with the punches, and come out every week to compete and look for a win."

About Hill's injury, Nelson said "first and foremost, my prayers are with him. A season-ending injury is tough; I've experienced those before and they're frustrating and they're hard to get over. Second of all, it's a big blow to our team. He's a playmaker and one of our best offensive weapons. To have him go down leaves a hole in our offense."

BYU now turns the offense back over to a signal-caller who like Hill, was making as many plays with his legs as his arm. Doman said "I'm not going to be able to stop (Nelson) from scrambling around, but here's hoping that we'll be able to keep him healthy."

Mendenhall confirmed that Lark and Jason Munns will be the second- and third-string QBs behind Nelson. Of Lark, Doman said "the way the season has gone, gosh, percentages are high that he might get a chance to play."

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Earlier today in "Cougar Tracks," I wrote about BYU's shift toward implementation of mobile quarterbacks; after practice, I asked Mendenhall if the latest QB injury has given him pause regarding that philosophy.

"Sure," said Mendenhall. "It's not a sustainable model, especially when a quarterback carries it 19 times in a game (Hill's workload verses Utah State), and when our quarterbacks run as hard as they do and aren't really avoiding contact--they're trying to get every yard possible."

"Either the carries lessen, or we become more risk-aversive, in sliding and dodging contact, etc. But it's hard to sustain a model (with) those kind of hits--and it could have happened the first play, could have happened the last play."

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Photo: Courtesy Scott G. Winterton, Deseret News

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