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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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