Knee injury shelves BYU quarterback Hill for year

Coach Bronco Mendenhall announced the injury after practice Monday as the team geared up to play No. 10 Oregon State, which will be without starting QB Sean Mannion because of knee surgery.

BYU senior Riley Nelson said Monday he is ready, pain-free and will start against the Beavers after missing two games with what he called "back fractures."

"My heart goes out to (Hill)," Nelson said. "Season-ending injuries are tough. I've experienced those before. They're hard to get over but first and foremost it's a big blow to our team. He's a playmaker and one of our best offensive weapons. It leaves a hole in our offense."

Hill passed for 425 yards this season and rushed for 336, with 8 TDs.

His injury occurred on a 4-yard run — even though coaches were trying to get him to take a knee with about a minute to play and Utah State down to one timeout.

Mendenhall said Hill received a sign from the sideline that indicated the clock was going and to run the play but looked away as the "victory" signal came in momentarily thereafter.

That meant Hill should have taken a knee on the season-ending play, as he did the next two plays.

"There was miscommunication, and I'm responsible when anything happens when one of my guys gets hurt," Mendenhall said Monday.

BYU trainer Jeff Hurst said Hill took a helmet directly on the left knee and also injured his hamstring. He will have surgery within the week, and recovery will take 4-to-6 months — a shorter period than if he had torn his anterior cruciate ligament.

Hurst said Hill should recover fully, good news for the Cougars (4-2) considering he is BYU's quarterback of the future.

Hurst would not go into Nelson's specific injury but said he looked great Monday.

"He's moving around really well and looked as good as he has since the injury occurred," Hurst said.