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Provo • Coach Bronco Mendenhall's BYU football team has been on an emotional roller coaster the past three days, reveling in the Hail Mary pass from freshman backup Tanner Mangum to Mitch Mathews that beat Nebraska 33-28, but deeply saddened by the foot injury suffered by senior quarterback Taysom Hill.

In BYU's press briefing on Monday, the coach and Mathews said the task now is to make sure what happened to the Cougars the last time Hill went down doesn't repeat itself this year. The Cougars (1-0) will play in another emotionally charged game on Saturday (8:15 p.m., ESPN2) when they host Boise State (1-0) at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

The Cougars were 4-0 last season when Hill fractured his leg and suffered ankle ligament damage in the fifth game against Utah State, and then proceeded to lose 35-20 to the Aggies and then to Central Florida, Nevada and Boise State. They hit rock-bottom in the 55-30 loss on the blue turf in Boise.

"If I did learn anything from a year ago, it was that our team's identity was and is tied a lot to our quarterback position," Mendenhall said. "So I think we certainly now have addressed that in a different way, and hopefully a better way, in terms of now getting the rest of the team to step up and do more rather than just relying on only our quarterback to determine the identity of our team."

With No. 23 Boise State lurking, followed by trips to No. 13 UCLA in the Rose Bowl and Michigan in the Big House, that appears to be much more difficult than last year's post-Hill lineup.

"We won the game this year, so that helps," Mathews said. "Last year when Taysom got hurt, we didn't win the game. And that was a big shock after four big wins. That really hurt. I think this win really helps us. It gives us a lot of momentum going into the next game, [because] Tanner was really confident, really comfortable and he gets to play his hometown team for his first start."

Mangum is from Eagle, Idaho, about 10 miles from Boise, and said Monday that he "loves Boise State" and would have signed with the Broncos out of high school if he didn't grow up loving BYU just a bit more.

"It's an awesome matchup," Mangum said. "there's a little bit of a rivalry between us. Growing up in Boise, I was always torn when Boise State and BYU would play because I'm a huge BYU fan and a huge Boise State fan. Obviously now I'm pulling for BYU."

Also Monday, a few more details came out about Hill's injury. Mendenhall called it a "Lisfranc fracture" after X-rays were taken at the stadium, but a BYU football spokesperson clarified Monday that it is a Lisfranc sprain after an MRI was performed.

However, the magnitude, or severity, of the injury is still what they feared it was, and the likelihood of Hill playing again this season is not good. Doctors are in the process of consulting specialists and talking to mid-foot injury experts to determine the best course of action. Surgery has not been scheduled.

Mendenhall said Hill did not cause further damage when he returned to the game after suffering the injury on a 21-yard touchdown run with 13:13 remaining in the second quarter.

"It was made very clear to Taysom and our trainers, through our doctors, that there is no risk of damaging it further. Once those words came out of the trainers/doctors' mouths, Taysom said, 'what can I do?'" Mendenhall said. "So there was a tape job and different things that allowed him to go back and last for awhile. … But it was made clear to him that there was not a chance for it to be worse."

Mendenhall has not decided whether he will appoint a new offensive captain, but will consult with Hill first before making that determination and/or choice..

drew@sltrib.com Twitter: @drewjay —

Boise State at BYU

O Saturday, 8:15 p.m.

TV • ESPN2