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Provo

Taysom Hill believes Ty Detmer's new BYU offense will have a more effective launch than the scheme Robert Anae installed three years ago, when the Cougars struggled in a season-opening loss at Virginia.

That's partly because Hill pictures BYU having a senior as its starting quarterback.

Yet even if Hill takes the first snap Sept. 3 vs. Arizona as a fifth-year player, with more experience than he had as a sophomore in 2013, the trend of first-game performances for BYU's new offensive coordinators should be disconcerting.

In 2005, when Anae joined the Cougar staff under Bronco Mendenhall, an offense led by junior quarterback John Beck posted 338 yards in a 20-3 loss to Boston College.

In 2011, when Brandon Doman succeeded Anae, sophomore QB Jake Heaps and the Cougars posted 316 yards and seven offensive points in a 14-13 win at Ole Miss.

And when Anae returned two years later with his fast-tempo approach, Hill's offense was held to 363 yards in a 19-16 loss at Virginia. Those initial efforts of Anae (twice) and Doman as coordinators resulted in averages of 338.6 yards and a total of three offensive touchdowns.

The Cougars responded with 40 points the next week vs. Texas in 2013, but then scored only 13 against Utah. So with a 2016 schedule of Pac-12 members Arizona, Utah and UCLA in the first three games, the Cougars will be tested.

It's true, though, that the last time the Cougars opened the season with a senior quarterback and a new play-caller, they thrived. With head coach Gary Crowton running his own offense, quarterbacked by Doman, BYU shredded Tulane with 734 yards and 70 points.

Hill's confidence, beyond his own ability, is based on Detmer's having played and coached in a West Coast offense for a long time, although this is his first college coaching job. Anae had two years of experience in the scheme he brought from Arizona to BYU in 2013.

"This is stuff Ty's been doing his whole life," Hill said during BYU's Football Media Day. "I hope we'll be able to bypass that learning curve."

Steve Clark, the Cougars' tight ends coach, suggests that having Hill or Tanner Mangum at quarterback and Jamaal Williams at running back will give the offensive staff an advanced starting point, with a simplified approach. "We have some players in place where we don't need the whole scheme in," he said. "The West Coast offense that Ty runs can get wordy and it can get intricate, but Ty's good about that. He knows when too much is too much."

Detmer's biggest worry about the opening game is how Arizona's defense will look with a new coordinator. Marcel Yates spent the past two seasons as Boise State's coordinator, so Detmer is studying Yates' work with the Broncos, who played BYU each of those years. "You never know what you're going to see defensively … It's the unknown that concerns you," Detmer said.

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