A Mount Rushmore of BYU football would certainly include LaVell Edwards, Steve Young, Ty Detmer and Jim McMahon, with a host of other greats pushing for inclusion.

If Taysom Hill hadn’t been robbed of the better part of three seasons because of injuries, he would have been a no-brainer for the honor.

Maybe he is, anyway, just for his twice-is-so-nice destruction of Texas.

Hill led the Cougars to two crushing victories over the Longhorns in 2013 at Provo (40-21) and 2014 at Austin (44-7). In 2013 — after a huge storm rolled through Provo and delayed kickoff — Hill blazed to 259 yards rushing and three touchdowns. Less than 24 hours later, Texas defensive coordinator Manny Diaz was fired. A couple of months later, head coach Mack Brown resigned.

Mark A. Philbrick, BYU Photo

We’re not saying the two incidents are mostly due to Hill’s performance, but we’re not NOT saying that, either.

In 2014, BYU’s “Thor-terback” ran for 134 yards (minus-35 yards in sacks, of course, for a total of 99) and three touchdowns, cemented himself in Cougar lore with an jaw-dropping leap over diving Texas defensive back Dylan Haines on his way to the end zone on a 30-yard touchdown gem.

Last chance?

BYU finds itself back in Austin on Saturday, taking on the No. 7 Longhorns at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium as a member of the Big 12 and a heavy underdog. Texas is making a final appearance this year in that league before bolting to the SEC, so who knows when the next time these two teams will battle on the field?

After the game in 2014, Hill told KSL TV, “This is how I imagined it. I came in thinking we were the favorites and we were going to win this game. Our offense is so good and so difficult with all the different options we can do, it’s really difficult to stop all of us.”

About his touchdown run, Hill said, “I made it through the first level and I knew I was 1-on-1 with the secondary and the safety. He came up and they’d been diving at my knees and ankles all game so I took a leap of faith and luckily it worked.”

Jon Hardy, BYU Photo

Here’s how the radio voice of the Cougars, Greg Wrubell, called it: “Snap, Taysom … three step drop … he settles, now pressure comes … Taysom steps out of it … 30 … 25 … gap for Taysom … 20, 15, 10 … a hurdle! … Oh, man! … Touchdown, what a play!”

From the sideline

An interesting perspective on BYU and Hill’s dominance of the Burnt Orange Boys comes from his backup in 2013 and 2014, Christian Stewart.

Stewart now lives in the Bay Area with his wife and three children. He is a vice president of a private equity firm that invests in software companies. The former Timpanogos and Snow College standout had a front row seat to both Cougar victories, preparing for each game with Hill and watching from the sideline.

To Texas, it may have seemed that BYU coaches planned to break out a new game plan for Hill in the 2013 game, but Stewart said that was not the case.

“Honestly, we didn’t prepare any differently than any other game,” Stewart recalled. “Coach (Robert) Anae’s mentality was ‘Go fast, go hard’ and he loved to run Taysom. We had this play — I think we just called it ’11’ — and basically Taysom had four ‘verts’ (receivers running vertical routes). He would just take the snap, check to see if he had a pre-snap route he could take, 1-2-3, and then he’d just go. Coach Anae called that play over and over and over again. We destroyed Texas on that play. Taysom had some creative freedom, and Taysom being Taysom, it was just natural for him to run the ball.”

Mark A. Philbrick, BYU Photo

Stewart said since 2013 was Hill’s sophomore season and it was just Game 2, Texas didn’t have a lot of film to prepare with, either.

“There was no way they knew what was coming for them,” Stewart said. “He wasn’t a household name at the time. You really had to have a great game plan for someone of Taysom’s caliber. If you don’t, you’re going to have a hard time. He’s a different animal.”

In 2014, BYU traveled to Austin for a rematch. The Cougars led just 6-0 at halftime on two Trevor Samson field goals. Hill’s miraculous 30-yard touchdown run ignited a 28-point third quarter that stunned the 90,000-plus crowd at DKR Memorial Stadium into silence.

“They were in a big lull in their program,” Stewart said. “We were coming in returning a ton of starters and we had a ton of confidence. I’m sure we weren’t the favorite in the game, but because of Taysom and what we’d done to them the year before, I’m sure they were nervous.”

Stewart admitted that the Texas victories were big ones for the Cougars in independence.

“Look, historically BYU hadn’t won a ton of those type of games,” he said. “Went went on the road and beat Oklahoma (2009) and the year after I left we beat Nebraska in Lincoln (2015). Winning those games against Texas are games I’ll remember forever.”

Hill went down with a season-ending injury against Utah State in Game 5 of 2014. Stewart stepped in and helped the Cougars to a bowl game, throwing for 2,621 yards and 25 touchdowns. Stewart also outdueling future NFL quarterback Jared Goff by throwing for 433 yards and five touchdowns in a 42-35 win against Cal.

I’ve been out of college football for almost 10 years now, and when people bring up my BYU career, the Texas wins are some of the first games they talk about,” Stewart said.

Still grateful

Hill has gone on to star in the NFL, playing multiple positions for the New Orleans Saints including quarterback, tight end, running back and the gunner on special teams. He is as unique an athlete as there is in the league.

BYU Sports Nation’s Spencer Linton interview Hill when the Cougars went to TCU several weeks ago, ranging the discussion from his two former college teammates on the Saints (Jamaal Williams and Danny Sorensen) to the upcoming matchup against the Longhorns.

“Yeah, look, I’ve always loved going on the road and playing in hostile environments,” Hill said. “After seven years in the NFL and playing five years at BYU it all boils down to really two things, in my opinion, when you’re playing this game. You’ve got to play with energy and emotion. If you take the field and do that you’re going to have an opportunity every week. That’s the type of team BYU is. They take the field and they’re going to have an opportunity to win. It’s about doing all the little things with energy and emotion and I like the Cougs.”

Hill will always be one of the favorite sons of BYU fans, even if there is no one ever builds a Mount Rushmore of Cougar greats.

“I think there have been moments in my career and my life where you kind of take a step back and you look at how things have happened and I always feel so much gratitude,” Hill said in his interview with BYUSN. “I’ve been a part of such loyal fan bases. I’ve been part of teams and fans who really embrace who you are and what you’re doing. I’ve certainly felt that in New Orleans and I felt that at BYU. It all boils down to gratitude and we all appreciate it.”