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Provo

The two-ton question weighing heavily around BYU football's neck at the start of the Cougars' annual media gathering on Thursday seemed gradually, minute by minute, to be getting more lift, viewed at the end not so much as a burden, but as a blessing.

Who will be the Cougar quarterback … Taysom Hill or Tanner Mangum?

Is that a double-barreled positive or a double-fisted problem?

There is an answer to both questions, with reasonable conclusions, but it's complicated.

First, the bromides must be chucked out the window: If you have two quarterbacks, you have none. Two-quarterback battles or systems never work because they divide the team. You need a single offensive leader, around whose skills the attack is molded. Constructing two offenses for two different guys is too distracting, too variable, too complex, too messy.

In some cases, those clichés are clichés for a good reason: they're typically true.

But in BYU's case, this season, with these particular quarterbacks, they likely won't be.

"They're both great," said Ty Detmer, the man who will make the decision(s). "If they both deserve to play, we'll see if we can find a way to play both. That's a little difficult, because, as a player, if you only have five series a game, you force it to try to win the job. If you know you're the guy, you run the system, you don't overdo it, you get a feel for the defense. But … we'll see. I don't know yet.

"They'll both take reps in the fall and we'll do what's best for the team. If it's to pick just one, we'll pick one."

Steve Young told 1280 The Zone recently that a two-QB movement would not work with what he called "corrosive" personalities. He should know, given what happened in San Francisco when he and Joe Montana were both in the fold. He said that Hill and Mangum are hugely competitive, but not corrosive, and that Kalani Sitake's program in its initial year would not just benefit from the comprehensive talents of the senior and the sophomore, but actually need them.

Somebody compiled research on the likelihood of having a single quarterback stay healthy from start to finish during an entire college season, and the prospects were less than 30 percent. Which is to say, you have to have two quarterbacks in this day of defenses that tend to make aggressive quarterbacks pay for their desire to make plays by extending them, by putting themselves in harm's way.

With BYU's schedule being as tough as it is, the Cougars might also find situational need for the varying talents of Hill and Mangum. Hill is a more versatile threat, better at making something out of a busted play, better at escaping the rush, and picking up yardage on the ground. Mangum is the superior passer.

Not that Detmer will put these guys in a blender and spin them around, according to either whim or favorable matchup. But there are obvious advantages to having both.

Hill can make defenses look silly, even when they are covering their responsibilities properly, and then … he's churning for a 20-yard gain. The trouble with relying on that too much is, it can take the heart out of players at other positions who are either running routes or expecting to handle the run game. If receivers are repeatedly in the middle of their patterns, diligently getting where they're supposed to be, and there is no reward because Hill takes off too early, they'll stop putting in the effort. If Jamaal Williams is BYU's primary ground threat, and, yet, Hill outgains him by giving himself more opportunities, that's a problem.

"I'm not too worried about that," Detmer said.

If Hill tries to do too much himself, he's also more vulnerable to injury, an unfortunate susceptibility that has hampered his career.

"I'm a little worried about that," Detmer said. "But he has to be who he is."

Mangum is bound to be even better than he was a year ago, when he was thrown into action fresh off an LDS mission, after Hill's injury in the season's first game at Nebraska. Mangum was preaching charity and forgiveness one month, facing blitzes the next. The talented thrower, who sometimes just chucked the ball down the field when options narrowed, likely has a more promising shot at a pro career than Hill, being better in and more accurate from the pocket. Having lost two years, he's eager to learn what must be learned, prove what must be proved, to further his football path.

In other words, he's in a hurry.

Detmer praised both of his guys, saying, "Taysom can throw it," and "Tanner can run it, although his straightaway speed may not be what Taysom's is. But he has other attributes."

So, what does Sitake — via Detmer — do?

He plays this sucker out. He makes these two ultra-competitive guys summon the best from within themselves and each other, and he lets that competition set a tone for the rest of the team.

And, then, he starts Hill.

But not with such a comfort zone that he can get goofy or sloppy with the ball or his decisions. Sitake won't hover over Hill, pressuring him at every turn, or pull the hook quickly. He will, however, make it clear that if there is any slippage, Mangum will get the call. The sophomore's too gifted, too good not to get that chance, especially when his team might need him.

"Whoever the guy is," Detmer said, "I want him to make the right reads, make good decisions. … I'm excited about that."

With these two quarterbacks at this particular time, in this particular season, with this specific challenge facing BYU football, Hill should — and will — be first up, Mangum second, Hill if he's healthy, Mangum in any other case — unless he straight outplays Hill in the run-up.

Either way, quarterback will not be the problem if the Cougars struggle.

Their double-dose of talent there is a big blessing and no burden, at all.

GORDON MONSON hosts "The Big Show" with Spence Checketts weekdays from 3-7 p.m. on 97.5 FM and 1280 AM The Zone. Twitter: @GordonMonson.