BYU midseason awards: Williams leads offense halfway through 2016


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PROVO — At the halfway mark of the 2016 college football season (can you believe it’s been so long?), BYU sits at 3-3 with wins over Arizona, Toledo and Michigan State and losses to Utah, UCLA and West Virginia.

The Cougars may be just as close to 6-0 or 0-6, depending on your perspective, but they’ve already provided a season full of highlights and roller-coaster emotions. As such, the BYU crew at KSL decided to hand out a few awards for the first half of the season, including offensive and defensive MVP. You can listen to the results here and on iTunes, or read them below.

Let’s start with the biggest names.

Offensive MVP: RB Jamaal Williams

Assigning “value” to a player in an 11-man sport like football isn’t easy. But Williams has proven his value to BYU, often dragging the offense to wins few expected it to pick up — such as last week at Michigan State.

The fifth-year senior has 866 yards and 10 touchdowns in six games, the most touchdowns by a running back in the country and the second most yards from scrimmage in the NCAA.

He needs just 64 yards to eclipse the BYU all-time record for career rushing yards, currently held by graduate assistant Harvey Unga.

“I just try to do my job,” Williams said. “All the bonuses will come afterwards, but the main point is to get the W.”

He’s averaging 6.2 yards per carry and 206 yards per game over the past three games. So expect that record to fall, even as soon as Friday night against Mississippi State (sorry, Harvey).

“He’s actually more positive about it, teaching me and telling me what he learned,” Williams said of Unga. “I just try to take it and put it into my game.”

Honorable Mention: QB Taysom Hill

Hill’s return to the gridiron was met with some angst and controversy from some BYU fans, but he’s rounded into a proven veteran with the savvy to lead his team to wins in recent games.

He’s also shown himself to be a worthy complement to Williams. The last time the duo played a full season together in 2013, Hill and Williams ran for a combined 2,577 yards.

BYU is 4-1 when Hill and Williams both run for 100 or more yards.

Defensive MVP: DL Sae Tautu

To see Tautu’s influence on the BYU defense, look no further than last week’s upset of the Spartans. While sitting out the first half for a targeting penalty, the Cougars performed well enough but trailed Michigan State 7-3 at halftime.

Tautu’s presence was felt as soon as he re-entered the game, though. The senior finished with a game-high six tackles and two sacks — including a sack on the second play of the half — as the Cougars held the Spartans to 206 yards and just 6-of-14 on third down conversions.

Honorable Mention: DB Kai Nacua

BYU’s defensive backfield has been a force through six games, and Nacua — one of two defensive captains with Harvey Langi — has been among the best ballhawks in the nation. He’s grabbed four interceptions in six games, even while missing one half against UCLA, to increase his total to 12 picks (including two touchdowns) to go along with 138 tackles and six tackles for loss.

Thomas Shoaf talks to the media after practice Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2016 in Provo. Shoaf returned from an LDS mission nine months ago, and has cemented himself on the BYU offensive line. (Photo: Sean Walker, KSL.com)
Thomas Shoaf talks to the media after practice Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2016 in Provo. Shoaf returned from an LDS mission nine months ago, and has cemented himself on the BYU offensive line. (Photo: Sean Walker, KSL.com)

Newcomer of the (Mid-)Year: OL Thomas Shoaf

The redshirt freshman lineman returned from a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints just nine months ago — but he’s already earned his spot in the starting rotation up front.

Shoaf enrolled at BYU just four days after stepping off the plane, and he’s put on 15 pounds through offseason workouts and strength training.

“I’m just grateful that I was able to step up when Ului (Lapuaho) went down,” Shoaf said. “I’ve been home for nine months, and I made it a personal goal to be ready if that time came. I’m just grateful I could step in and help out the offense.”

The line deserves some of the credit for Williams’ record-setting rushing pace, too. They’ve paved the way to four games of 200 or more rushing yards, and have protected Hill and Williams to 501.7 yards of offense in the past three games with a steady rotation of 10 starting-caliber players.

“A lot of people call it a front-five, but we’re a front-10,” Shoaf said. “We play as 10 guys, and when we rotate through, it’s the same unit to us.”

Honorable Mention: LB Butch Pau’u

He’s got 42 total tackles, including six tackles for loss and one sack, and he racked up 19 tackles against UCLA.

Oh, and he’s only played four games this season as he strives to come back from a knee injury suffered against West Virginia.

Underappreciated Player of the (Mid-)Year: DL Logan Taele

Defensive linemen don’t always get their due, so we are giving two mentions to them in the midseason awards. To see the impact of Taele, the Cougars’ lone senior starter on the defensive line for much of the season, look no further than the players who square off behind him: Pau’u, Francis Bernard and sometimes Harvey Langi. If there are three playmakers consistently applying pressure on the run and pass, it says something about the gap-crusher in front of them.

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