PROVO — After a gut-wrenching loss against the Bruins, here are five takeaways about BYU football.

Taysom Hill might not be the right guy at quarterback

This is painful to say. You can look around the nation and you would be hard-pressed to find a collegiate athlete who has given more to his or her school and overcome as much adversity as Hill has. Having the mental and physical fortitude to come back from three devastating leg injuries to play major college football is darned impressive. Hill's loyalty to the Y should also be mentioned anytime he is spoken about as he had offers to finish his amateur football career at numerous other colleges over the summer.

Having said that, the first three games have not been pretty for Hill. Prior to the UCLA game, the Cougars were the only team in the nation to not have completed a pass over 20 yards. After putting up a respectable 142.3 pass efficiency rating against Arizona, Hill's overall rating for 2016 has dipped to an unsightly 102.89. The Utes and Bruins dared him to throw, stacking the box for much of the contests. Over and over again, Hill was unable to make either team pay through the air. As a result, the offense has struggled to get any traction and is averaging a paltry 17 points a game.

Perhaps most concerning of all, though, is that Hill does not seem to have the same terrific athleticism that Cougar Nation is used to seeing. While he had some nice runs against the Utes, Hill was sacked four times against UCLA and finished with negative rushing yards for the first time in his collegiate career. He seemed unable to get to the edge and was routinely brought down by Bruin defensive linemen and linebackers. Without his overwhelming speed and quickness, Hill does not appear to have any advantages over last year's starter, Tanner Mangum. It might be a time to turn the offense over to the young gunslinger and let him try to spread defenses out more with his arm.

The offense as a whole has serious problems

While Hill has played poorly, he's hardly to blame for all of the offense's struggles. The offensive line was absolutely dominated by UCLA's front seven on Saturday. Hill was swarmed all game and Jamaal Williams did not have many holes to run through. The lack of push up front explains in large part the team's embarrassing 23 total rushing yards in the contest.

Another major concern is that the receivers are dropping a staggering amount of balls, often at crucial junctures. Some fans have blamed Hill's inconsistent accuracy and lack of touch on his throws for this pattern. There is some truth to that, but the fact is, if it's a catchable pass, the receivers need to step up and help their struggling QB out. Over the first three games, there have been numerous dropped passes that would have been good for first-down yardage. Instead, the drops killed drives and handcuffed offensive coordinator Ty Detmer in his play-calling.

Perhaps most surprising of all, however, has been the lack of leadership on the offensive side of the ball. In both of the contests against the Utes and Bruins, a sideline commentator pointed out that BYU offensive players were hanging their heads and moping on the sidelines rather than encouraging each other and trying to generate energy. Williams and Hill are both seniors who have been good leaders in the past, so it's very disappointing that these behaviors are occurring under their watch.

The defense may go down as one of the best in school history

Coming into the 2016 campaign, a lot of people in Provo worried about the program's switch from a 3-4 defensive scheme to a 4-3. What was particularly panic-inducing in Happy Valley was the change in philosophy towards playing primarily man coverage in the secondary instead of zone. Fans, former coaches and those who've been acquainted with the program for any extended period of time felt like BYU just does not have the athletes to make this scheme work.

So far, those fears have been put to rest as the defense has been nearly as good as the offense has been bad for the Cougs. Defensive coordinator Ilaisa Tuiaki looks like a seasoned veteran rather than a rookie at his position. His D has produced nine turnovers and held three straight Pac-12 offenses to 20 points. While the Utes' offense hasn't been record-breaking, UCLA and Arizona are very dangerous on that side of the ball. It's almost scary to think what BYU's defense could do if the offense started pulling its weight.

Butch Pau'u is a stud

The sophomore middle linebacker has exploded onto the scene and seems to be the perfect fit for the role in Tuiaki's defense. As ESPN commentators noted during the UCLA game, Pau'u lives up to his last name as you can hear an audible thumping sound throughout the stadium when he is on a tackle. While he's not the biggest guy on the field, Pau'u stands runners straight up when he hits them and doesn't let them get any extra yards after contact.

Pau'u's debut game against the Wildcats was very impressive as he recorded nine tackles (two and a half for loss), a sack and a forced fumble. But against the Bruins he turned it up another level entirely, chipping in a whopping 19 tackles (the most by a Cougar since 2000) and adding another two and a half more tackles for loss. If the young man keeps up this tackling rate, there's no way he can be left off postseason award lists.

Cougar fans better stock up on Tums

BYUs three games so far have been decided by a total margin of six points with UCLAs 17-14 victory qualifying as a "blowout" the way this season has gone. Some fans and commentators might enjoy the close games and prefer them on a week in and week out basis. The Cougs' offense playing as poorly as it is and the defense being so stingy, mingled with the continued tough competition suggests that this pattern won't change in the near future. The faint of heart and queasy in stomach should stock up on Tums as the Cougs head to Maryland to take on West Virginia.

Dylan Cannon is a regular KSL.com contributor and can be reached at DylanCannon86@gmail.com or via Twitter @DylanCannon11.

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