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Provo • Running back Jamaal Williams is easily the best interview on the BYU football team, and will usually address every question with enthusiasm — and a touch of humor for good measure.
Heck, here's a guy who announced his own one-game suspension at camp two years ago with a smile on his face.
But when the senior was asked on Saturday if the players talk in the locker room about the starting quarterback battle between senior Taysom Hill and sophomore Tanner Mangum, he clammed up in a hurry.
"Nope, next question," said Williams, back this season after a one-year absence.
Yes, the topic is hot, two days into BYU's preseason camp. The quarterback competition is on everyone's mind — and nobody wants to talk about it.
"It is awesome seeing [Hill] out here, running around," Mangum said Friday, when asked about the QB duel. "Different number, but he looks great. He is doing well, throwing the ball well. It is good to have him back."
Said Hill when asked virtually the same question on Friday: "No, it was fun today. Yeah, it was great to have Tanner with us last fall camp. Yeah, Tanner is a good friend, so no problem there."
New coach Kalani Sitake and offensive coordinator Ty Detmer both said Friday that there's no timetable or deadline to name the starter. Sitake reiterated on Saturday what he said at media day in June, that as soon as coaches make their decision they will announce it. Trying to keep BYU's season-opening foe, Arizona, guessing is not the way the coaches want to go.
"It is important to do that for the team, too," Sitake said. "Once we show that there is a clear leader, then we will go ahead and make that decision. I can't tell what the timetable is going to be. I just know it will be before the game. I don't want it to be day of, or day before. You would like it to be time enough for our guys to be used to running with that quarterback."
So, does any candidate have a leg up after just two days?
"No, I can't tell you that," Sitake said. "Watching the film, I think they've both done some really good things, and some things that we can continue to work on. But overall as a team from yesterday to today was a much better practice. Yesterday being good, today was really, really good — especially on the defensive side."
As practiced wrapped up Saturday and the media were being allowed on the practice field for interviews, one quarterback threw a perfect strike for a long touchdown.
It was Beau Hoge, the presumed third-stringer.
Whatever the case, Detmer said it is "great" to have two experienced QBs in camp and another, Hoge, who saw some meaningful action last year when Mangum went out with a minor hamstring strain.
"There's no drop-off," Detmer said. "Whoever is in there, they are functioning at a high level. Beau got a lot of reps in the spring when Taysom was still recovering [from a Lisfranc foot injury], which was good for him, so he's comfortable out there as well."
Detmer said Hill entered camp billed as "100 percent and ready to go," and so far he's seen nothing that would cause him to think differently.
"A lot of things he does are not going to show up in practice, because he is not going to pull it down and run 20 and 30 [yards]," Detmer said. "He will jog forward, and doesn't look that great. But come game time, those things will show up and as we scrimmage and start getting into some of those things, he will do a little more of that."
After pronouncing himself totally healthy on Friday, Hill said he is getting more and more comfortable with Detmer's offense.
"This offense is quite a bit easier to pick up than what we were used to, so I feel really, really comfortable," Hill said. "I think the biggest thing now is to get as many reps as possible inside the offense, and I think as we do that I will become extremely comfortable with what we are doing. It is a great offense for me."
Twitter: @drewjay —
BYU camp update
• Linebacker Harvey Langi lined up at defensive end and rushed the passer, another sign that coaches probably don't expect Sione Takitaki to return this season.
• BYU released a new 105-man roster Saturday that dropped DL Moses Folauhola and DB Lee Hiva and added LB Sam Morell, but still did not include OLs Brad Wilcox and Kyle Johnson.
• Of the 26 players BYU signed last February, only nine are on the current roster because most are going on church missions before enrolling.