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PROVO — After the first day of fall camp, BYU quarterback Taysom Hill took stock of his situation, his leg and the first steps toward preparing for his senior year.
So far, so good.
"I felt really good, and nothing was holding me back," Hill said. "100 percent."
Even as the Cougars try to rally to find someone to replace running back Jamaal Williams, who withdrew from school Thursday, the BYU senior signal caller gave the offense a boost in the first run through routes, patterns and workouts in gym shorts and helmets.
The reps will intensify as the Cougars prepare for the season opener Sept. 5 at Nebraska. For now, head coach Bronco Mendenhall said he's content with giving Hill the majority of the reps at quarterback, with incoming freshman Tanner Mangum a "slightly less majority" as the backup.
The 10-year head coach is also confident Williams' suspension won't have any effect on Hill, who is coming off a broken leg sustained in the fourth game of 2014.
"I really hope it doesn't hurt anyone," Mendenhall said. "Right now, I just hope we are all reaching out (to Williams) in love and everything. I hope he (Hill) isn't affected."
The biggest reaction current Cougars on the roster have toward Williams' withdrawal, then, is to show love and support for the California native who plans to redshirt the 2015 season.
Related:
Camp Cougar, day 1
10 months after suffering a season-ending ankle injury, BYU quarterback Taysom Hill was fully cleared and back on the field with his teammates as the Cougars opened training camp late Saturday afternoon in Provo."It's fall camp, so it's just like in the season. When you lose guys, you want them with you, but you can't sit there and just think about how it could've been," defensive end Bronson Kaufusi said. "You have to move on, get ready and get better."
Some of the players BYU will be counting on to replace Williams -- Algernon Brown, Adam Hine and Nate Carter -- excelled last season when Williams went down with a knee injury, so Mendenhall has experience with his running backs when he says he "likes them a lot."
"Algie Brown, I love. He's tough, he's big; he reminds me a little bit of Paul Lasike (and) Harvey Unga in that role. Adam Hine, I like a lot," Mendenhall said. "Both of those players have experience.
"Even though he'll be sitting out this year, the stuff I saw from Squally Canada, I like. Maybe the player who had the best summer, and was a bit Bryan Kariya-ish, was Nate Carter. There are options there."
