Taysom Hill ready to shine

If Saturday was your first time watching the BYU Cougars you would have never guessed the roller coaster ride QB Taysom Hill has been on this season.

Through all the criticism there is one thing Hill has never lacked -- confidence. Say what you want about the embattled sophomore, but the kid has some swagger.

Hill took the field with that swagger Saturday evening and silenced his critics for the second straight week. Last week we told From The Rumble Seat that Hill was "bigger, faster, and had a lot stronger arm" than his predecessor Riley Nelson. Hill proved all of that on Saturday.

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Hill came out on fire versus Georgia Tech completing his first 8 passes and never looked back. Hill finished the game with 244 yards passing and 65 yards rushing in a 38-20 rout of the Yellow Jackets.

The highlight play of the night for Hill came on a beautiful 45-yard bomb to Cody Hoffman for a touchdown in the 1st quarter. Hoffman made a brilliant catch while being interfered with by the Georgia Tech defensive back Louis Young to complete the play.

Cody Hoffman 45 yard TD reception vs. Georgia Tech (via BYUtv Sports)

After Hill ran over a few poor Yellow Jackets who got in his way on a key first down and a 1-yard touchdown run by the sophomore quarterback in the second quarter the Cougars went into the half with a comfortable 24-13 lead.

Hill would add little to his stats in the 2nd half as BYU offensive coordinator, Robert Anae was content to protect the Cougars' lead with a conservative game plan coming out of the locker room. BYU only threw the ball seven times in the 2nd half after throwing twenty times in the 1st.

With a few good passing performances under his belt, Hill now has his season completion up near 50 percent after a rocky start to the year. That completion percentage won't impress by itself, but when you combine it with Hill's ability in the run game it makes things difficult on opposing defenses. More importantly Hill has led BYU to victories over Texas, Middle Tennessee, Utah State and now Georgia Tech and has BYU in good position to go bowling. It's beginning to look like Hill's biggest critics may need to acquire a taste for crow.

Hill will have a good opportunity to fill-up the box score next week against the undefeated Houston Cougars. Houston ranks 61st in the country in total defense giving up an average of 395.4 yards per game to its opponents. The Cougars also rank 105th in pass defense giving up 268.8 yards per game through the air.

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What do you think? Was Hill's performance worthy of this week's player of the game? If not, who would have been your choice for player of the game?