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All eyes on TaysomB y J A C K S O N U R Q U H A R T
Taysom. Hill.
BYU football fans drool over
the possibility of two more years
with him at the helm. Journalists
ask him how it feels to be a Heis-
man hopeful. Girls on campus
want to know if he’s single.
But Hill takes all the admira-
tion with a grain of salt.
“If I based how I felt or how
I played on the fans or the
media, it would be a constant
roller coaster,” said the sopho-
more quarterback, a native of
Pocatello, Idaho.
And it’s fitting. Six weeks ago,
the Cougars were 1–2 and on the
heels of their fourth straight loss
to Utah. Hill completed just 18
of 48 passes and threw an inter-
ception in the contest. Ute fans
mocked the performance. Cou-
gar fans called for the backup.
Reporters bombarded Hill with
questions about his passing.
So it’s no wonder Hill is a lit-
tle apprehensive about recent
praise.
“That can change just as
quickly as it changed before,”
Hill said. “I just try to control the
things I can control.”
Over the last month and a half,
Hill’s offensive control has been
stellar. Since its loss to Utah, BYU
is averaging 38 points per game,
and Hill has thrown 11 touch-
down passes and run for four
more. After just 10 full games as
BYU’s quarterback, he’s already
the best rushing quarterback the
school has ever seen.
“The dude is built like a
horse,” said Ross Apo, a junior
wide receiver. “He works very
hard.”
Perhaps no one is a bigger
advocate for Hill than head coach
Bronco Mendenhall.
“He’s one of the most explosive
players I’ve ever coached,” Men-
denhall said.
Mendenhall stood behind Hill
after criticism and doubt were
directed toward quarterback’s
early struggles this season.
“If anyone thinks (criticism of
Hill) will have any influence, it’s
not happening,” Mendenhall said
after BYU’s win against Middle
Tennessee on Sept. 28. “I think
he’s exceptional, not just OK.”
Hill is uncommonly gritty for
a quarterback. He has no qualms
about leading and directing more
experienced players on the team.
He finishes runs, bowling over
defenders and diving toward the
first down marker. If there’s any
issue Mendenhall has with his
field general, it’s Hi ll’s aversion
to avoiding hits.
“I’m on the sideline telling him
to slide,” Mendenhall said, “and
he’s running over guys.”
Given his confidence and
aggressiveness on the field, Hill
reacts modestly to recognition.
“I realize I couldn’t do any-
thing without the guys around
me,” Hill said.
Although expectations and
projections for the BYU foot-
ball team rest squarely on Hill’s
shoulders, he originally com-
mitted to play at Stanford. But
while Hill was on his mission in
Sydney, Australia, the Stanford
coaching staff forced him into a
tough decision.
“Stanford wanted me to come
home four or five months early
from my mission,” Hill said.
“And I didn’t want to do that.”
BYU had also shown inter-
est in Hill, and midway through
his mission, he decided to be a
Cougar.
“I found out that BYU was
where I needed to be,” he said.
“And that has been confirmed
ever since I got here.”
And it has been so far, so good
for Hill. This year’s turnaround
has been monumental, and the
sky’s the limit for BYU’s signal
caller.
Despite what he’s already
accomplished, fans still think
he’s raw. Maybe he will go down
as one of the BYU greats, with his
jersey alongside Robbie Bosco’s,
Vince Young’s, Ty Detmer’s or
Jim McMahon’s.
For now, the 23-year-old who
dodges questions about playing
in the pros or his legacy at BYU,
and focuses on diving toward one
first down marker at a time: “I
just wor ry about becoming my
best self.”
Brayden Woodall: The ultimate insider football fanB y K Y L I E D R E W
Fans on the front row at foot-
ball games have it pretty good.
Those who sit in the luxury
boxes have nothing to com-
plain about. No fan, however,
has more inside access than
Brayden Woodall.
A student cameraman, Wood-
all has sat high above BYU’s
football practices, perched on
a 75-foot scissor lift. It is Wood-
all’s job to shoot non-stop video
of every practice and later cut
and edit plays together. It’s
hard work, and at times it’s
left Woodall exposed to the ele-
ments — but there is no place he
would rather be.
Woodall has always been a
diehard BYU fan. His family
has held season tickets for the
past 35 years and travels from
Roy to see every game. Many
students aspire to get paid to do
something they love. Woodall, a
junior, count s hims elf lucky to
do so before he even graduates.
“With this job I’m living the
dream,” he said. “I get to be
around the team almost every
day, and I get to travel with the
team. … (I enjoy) feeling like I
can contribute to their success,
seeing the guys work hard and
enjoy their time at BYU.”
Student cameramen such as
Woodall are constantly behind
the scenes, producing videos
the team later uses to strategize
and improve on its mistakes.
Quarterbacks coach Jason
Beck said they do the job well.
“They know what they are
doing,” Beck said. “They are
football guys. They know the
game. They are closely scruti-
nized when they are hired, and
they are monitored to make
sure they do a good job.”
Although he might not be as
high profile as quarterback Tay-
som Hill or receiver Cody Hoff-
man, Woodall is just as valuable
to the coaches. They rely on him
to produce something key to the
team’s progression.
“We watch everything that is
filmed in practice, every day,”
Beck said. “Once in a while
something will happen, a glitch
or something technica lly, and it
can be a major crisis. So yeah,
we watch every part of it.”
Woodall works with a team
of five students. A information
technology major, he brings
expertise to the team with his
ability to work through tech-
nical problems that may arise.
After practice, the task of edit-
ing film and making it immedi-
ately team accessible begins.
“We film the game, edit it, and
by the time the team gets to the
airport, t he players and coaches
have the film on their iPads
ready to watch on the airplane,”
he said. “It’s fascinating how we
can turn raw footage into edited
game film so quickly.”
Woodall has worked in his
dream scenario for nearly two
years. But sometimes, it can be
nerve wracking.
The most hazardous part of
the job is filming from the scis-
sor lift. Up to four people film on
the tower at one time. Although
Woodall has moved up on the
totem pole a bit and is now
assigned to the tower rarely,
he said nerves never really go
away that high in the air.
“Every gust of wind makes
me cringe and fear for my life,”
he said. “My grip on the camera
gets tighter. I am terrified of
heights.”
If the weather becomes
severe, cameramen are not
expected to stay on the hydrau-
lic lift. In 2010, Declan Sulli-
van, a student at Notre Dame,
was filming practice atop the
same type of lift when the
wind picked up and the tower
fell over. Sullivan died short ly
thereafter. After she first
learned of the tragedy, Wood-
all’s wife, Mikaela Hadley
Woodall, made him promise to
be careful.
Woodall travels extensively
with the team, having visited
Charlottesville, Va., Houston,
Atlanta, Las Cruces, N.M. and
Logan. It is a sacrifice for him
and his family, but he and his
wife agree it’s worth it.
“Even though he’s gone all
the time, it’s still a really cool
job a nd opp ortu nity,” Mi kaela
Woodall said.
Woodall will travel to Notre
Dame on Nov. 23, a trip he has
been anticipating.
“The opportunity to go to
Notre Dame is sweet. I have
heard it’s beautiful there,”
Woodall said. “The school has
a lot of history to it, (which)
makes me excited to visit the
campus and see how our boys
do on a national scene.”
Photo by Samantha Paskins
Taysom Hill looks for a recieverOct. 12 against Georgia Tech.
Photo by Sarah Hill
Brayden Woodall poses with hiscamera after shooting film forthe football tam.
The Universe, November 12 – 18, 2013 9
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