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PROVO — With BYU opening fall camp Friday, college football is around the corner.
Until then, fans and media alike will have to be content with predicting what will happen this year. Here are five bold predictions about BYU football in 2016.
1. Taysom Hill will play a full season
This is really going out on a limb. The explosive dual-threat quarterback has only finished one season (2013 as a sophomore) in his four-year career at the Y. He truly has been snake-bitten in a way that Cougar nation hasn’t seen since Doak Walker Award winner, Luke Staley.
However, there are some reasons for the optimism that Hill can stay upright for a full season. First of all, the new offensive scheme will ask him to run much less. The “Go Fast, Go Hard” offense that former Cougar offensive coordinator, Robert Anae, ran was predicated on a running quarterback. Ty Detmer’s offense will be more pro-style and requires a pocket passer. By basic math, the fewer times Hill runs, the less likely he is to get seriously injured.
On a similar note, the new offensive scheme in Provo will feature a return to the huddle and focus on quality of plays rather than quantity. “Go Fast, Go Hard” was all about getting off as many snaps as possible. With Hill running as much as he did and with so many plays, it is quite possible that his injuries can be attributed, at least in part, to fatigue. The reduced amount of snaps and time to recover by huddling leaves him less vulnerable to fatigue and gives opposing defenses fewer opportunities to hit him.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Hill’s injuries all appear to be fluke accidents. While three times seems to be a pattern, none of his injuries have any connection to each other. In contrast, Staley had ligament issues that were the culprit of his various ailments. There’s reason to hope that Hill’s run of bad luck will come to an end in 2016.
2. Jamaal Williams will break the school rushing record
Williams enters the 2016 campaign 929 yards short of Harvey Unga’s record. The fifth-year senior from Fontana, Calif., clearly has the talent to rack up enough yardage on the ground to catch the former Cougar great. However, it is not a slam dunk. Williams has only had one season where he gained that many yards (his sophomore season, when he gained 1,233). He also missed half of his junior season with a serious leg injury. So, as was done with Hill, this prediction is stating that Williams will stay healthy for all of 2016. I’m predicting that he will do it in the 11th game against UMass.
3. BYU will beat the Utes
The Utes look primed to have another good season. They have a talented roster and are always well-coached, at least on the defensive side of the ball. The game is also in Salt Lake City, where the Utes are tough to beat. However, the Y is due. It’s been almost seven years since they won the rivalry game.
In a few of those games, the Cougs were favored to win and had a better season overall than their comrades from up north. But, former head coach, Bronco Mendenhall, just seemed unable to crack the code to beat the Utes. As has been said by many Cougar fans, Mendenhall’s overall approach to treating every game the same was a key component of his success but hurt him in rivalry meetings.
While new BYU head coach, Kalani Sitake, has restored civility to the contest between the two school’s head honchos, there is no doubt that he wants this one. He knows how long it has been since the Y has beaten their rivals and understands that the annual meetings will go a long ways to setting his legacy in Provo. The Cougs are going to come out swinging in this one and will beat a Ute team that will be breaking in a new quarterback.
4. Jonah Trinnaman will lead the team in receptions and yards
Trinnaman, a wide receiver who transferred from Snow College, has athleticism that coaches drool over. If you go and watch Trinnaman’s highlight video, it is not hard to see why former Cougar and current radio host, Ben Criddle, thinks that the junior college transfer is one of the most athletic players to ever don the blue and white.
The reason this prediction is bold is because there are reports from practice that Trinnaman might not have great hands. Obviously, all the athletic ability in the world won’t matter if he can’t catch the ball. However, if the reports are true, he is fortunate to have one of the most sure-handed receivers in the history of BYU, Ben Cahoon, as his position coach. The last time Cahoon was on staff, dropped balls significantly decreased despite the sporadic play of quarterbacks throwing to Cougar receivers. He will help Trinnaman master the craft and harness the receiver’s incredible explosiveness. Trinnaman will be Tanner Mangum or Taysom Hill’s top target and will lead the team in receptions and yards.
5. One player will be named an AP All-American at the end of the season
It has been a while since BYU has had an AP All-American player in football. The last to receive the honor was tight end, Dennis Pitta, in 2009. The Cougs have a lot of talent on this year’s squad and are going against a schedule that will give them plenty of opportunities to prove their mettle. I’m not going to be boxed in and say who will earn the honor, but some front-runners would be whoever the starting quarterback ends up being, linebackers Harvey Langi and Fred Warner, safeties Kai Nacua, Jamaal Williams and center Tejan Koroma, if he returns to the team.
