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PROVO — BYU fans have known for a long time that Taysom Hill is the real deal. Now the national media is finally taking notice at the BYU junior quarterback.
It seems as if you can’t read or watch the news without hearing about Hill as a potential Heisman candidate. With Hill all over the news, we’ve compiled a list of some of the things being said about Hill and what Hill himself is saying on the national stage.
- Hill is ranked fourth on the USA Today Heisman Watch List.
- On the ESPN Expert’s Heisman Watch Poll, Hill is ranked seventh.
- NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah ranked Hill fifth in his Heisman Watch List.
- Fox News ranked Hill 10th on their Heisman Watch List.
- BYU great Steve Young was a guest on ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption and talked about Hill, saying, “There is a feeling. Every time BYU ever, in the last 30 years has had a really good quarterback or great quarterback, they go 11-0, they go 12-0.” Young added, “He can run you over. He is like a sledgehammer. He can do the jackhammer one play and then play the violin the next play. I like that.” In another interview, Young called Hill “a better me.”
- After BYU’s stomp-down of Texas, Texas defensive coordinator Vance Bedford said, “That quarterback is a Heisman candidate.” Bedford also compared him to 2007 Heisman winner Tim Tebow, saying, “He's a strong guy, like a fullback, when he gets the football in his hands. He's a little Tim Tebow-ish. Running around, making plays. He's faster than you think he is, he throws well on the run. Third down and short, he becomes a fullback. You see a quarterback power, a quarterback lead, he's a handful."
- Hill was a guest on Jim Rome’s CBS Sports show. Rome asked if Hill had the Heisman in the back of his mind at this point in the season. Hill responded by saying, “No, I don’t. Honestly, there has been a lot of conversation about that and to be honest it’s fun to hear, ya know it’s a childhood dream, it’s what you look to. I remember growing up watching that trophy being awarded in December in New York. So it’s fun to think about but honestly I do my best to stay away from that stuff. I know if I take it one game at a time that everything else off the field, including this Heisman conversation, will take care of itself.”
- Hill was a guest on the Scott Van Pelt and Ryan Russillo ESPN radio show. Van Pelt and Russillo asked about his thoughts on the Heisman. Hill gave a similar response as he did to Jim Rome saying, “I do my best to take it one day at a time, one play at a time … and hopefully everything else will follow.”
- ESPN’s Grantland devoted a whole article to Hill, saying that it is hard not to imagine how a “dark-horse (Heisman) campaign might take shape.”
- Houston coach Tony Levine said, ''When you talk about dual-threat, if you looked up a dual-threat quarterback in a dictionary, they should have his picture there as an example.”
- Hill was featured on Thursday’s Doug Gottlieb CBS Sports Radio show. Once again, Hill was asked about the Heisman race. “It’s a fun conversation to be in. … It’s an honor,” he said.
- Following BYU’s win over Virginia, Hill was on the Dan Patrick Show. Patrick asked Hill about things ranging from his marriage proposal to his LDS mission. But of course Patrick also asked him about the Heisman. In the interview, Hill was asked if he considered himself a Heisman candidate. He responded by saying, “I think so, it’s hard to say because those are the things that are out of my control, so honestly I do my best not to worry about those things. I obviously worry about the way I perform on the field, the things I do off the field and I take care of that and then hopefully everything else takes care of itself.” Later in the interview, Patrick mentioned that a columnist said, “Swagger has a name and it goes by Taysom Hill,” Hill responded by saying, “Because of my preparation, because of the work that I put in this offseason and more importantly, I would say, because of the guys around me … I have a lot of confidence."
Lindsey Peterson is a Brigham Young University student studying Broadcast Journalism. Contact her at lindspeterson4@gmail.com or on Twitter @LindsPetey.
