Taysom Hill and Saints defeat Zach Wilson in ‘BYU bowl’
In the NFL’s first meeting of former BYU quarterbacks in 24 years, Taysom Hill and the New Orleans Saints delivered a convincing 30-9 road victory over Zach Wilson’s New York Jets.
Hill ran for two touchdown scores— including a 44-yard burst in the game’s final minute— while completing 15 of 21 passes for 175 yards. Hill ran for 73 yards on the day and averaged 6.6 yards per carry, with favorite target Alvin Kamara returning from injury to gash the Jets for 145 total yards of offense and a touchdown as well.
Wilson’s inconsistent rookie campaign continued in completing 19 of 42 passes for 202 yards with a lowly 59.8 rating. While leading the Jets with 33 rushing yards, Wilson’s overall contribution to the run game still came up more than 10 yards short of Hill’s longest individual scramble of the contest.
Playing without top receiver Elijah Moore along with other key pieces on both sides of the ball, Wilson was given little help from his teammates who dropped several passes and hung the former No. 2 overall pick out to dry for three bruising sacks. In addition to the drops from his receivers, Wilson proved shaky as a passer in missing a number of shorter passes and misreading the tight, effective New Orleans defensive scheme to make poor decisions under center.
The showdown of former Cougar gunslingers was the first since Super Bowl champion Steve Young and the San Francisco 49ers defeated Heisman Trophy winner Ty Detmer’s Philadelphia Eagles in 1997. With Hill’s fourth career victory as a starter, the Saints move to 6-7 on the year in the thick of the NFC wild card race, while the Jets are eliminated from playoff contention at 3-10 and will likely have another top selection in April’s draft.
