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Taysom Hill looked like a dual-threat quarterbacking cyborg Friday. Even with the offense spinning its wheels in the first half due to multiple holding and personal foul penalties, Hill still had BYU rolling on its way to a four-score victory.
And he did it ... *gasp!* ... with his arm.
Well, he did damage with his legs, too, because he's Taysom freaking Hill and he'll romp all over you whenever he pleases, thank you very much:
But everything we heard about Taysom Hill for the past two months of regurgitated radio filler was about how teams would pack the box against BYU because...
Taysom Hill is inaccurate when he has to throw from the pocket.
Taysom Hill is not good at staying in the pocket and making reads.
Taysom Hill relies too heavily on his legs to run down field when he can't quickly make a throw to an open receiver.
(that was a 35-yard touchdown pass)
(that one took so long to develop it was too long for a Vine! It was complete to Colby Pearson for a 30-yard gain)
Hill's halftime passing stats were 17-for-20 for 195 yards and 3 TD, and all three incompletions were throw-aways after scrambling to avoid tackles but not finding anyone open. This means a lot of things, 1) That Hill was perfect in the first half in throws thrown to a receiver, 2) Hill was taking time to let passing plays develop, and 3) Hill made smart decisions about when to run and when to protect his body.
Hill was accurate from the pocket and on the move. He stayed in the pocket often. When he needed to move, he kept his eyes downfield -- and when he did decide to run he picked absolutely killer times to scamper. The timing of his decisions to hit the check-down receiver was great. At no point do I recall him coming anywhere close to throwing an interception.
(All of this also means the offensive line was balling, which could be another article entirely.)
I know it was only one game against a poor team, but what else could Hill have shown? Everything you would want to see was on display.
Hill's final lines:
28-of-36, 308 yards, 3 TD 0 INT
12 carries, 97 yards, 2 TD
This is something I could get used to.