Max Hall began the season under a cloud of uncertainty and with a wave of questions.

How would he deal with the challenge of successfully following up on the best season the Cougars have had since 2001? How would he deal with an offensive attack that without Curtis Brown, Jonny Harline and McKay Jacobson, many deemed considerably weaker? Could he overcome TCU and Utah, predicted to finish ahead of the Cougars in the Mountain West Conference, and lead the Cougars to back-to-back conference championships?

Then there was the concern regarding his inexperience. Performing well as the starting quarterback is difficult enough for any person. But how much would being only a sophomore affect his performance?

A lot of fans saw 2007 as an obvious rebuilding year for the Cougars as Hall gained experience.

Even head coach Bronco Mendenhall admitted he didn't know what to expect.

"I didn't know exactly where he would be at the start, nor midway through," Mendenhall said. "It's difficult. I think if you were to look statistically, and there's all kinds of numbers to substantiate it, first-time starters as sophomores at BYU haven't had tremendous success."

Through the Cougars’ first seven games, some questions still linger. However, many have been alleviated as Hall has led the Cougars to a 5-2 record. Hall has completed 58.8 percent of his passes, accumulated 2,130 passing yards and completed 14 touchdowns. In only his second start of the season, Hall completed 57.7 percent of his passes for 392 yards at UCLA. Then, the following week at Tulsa, he threw for 537 yards and four touchdowns.

"I am pleased with how he's leading the team and his production," Mendenhall said. "He's a fierce competitor. He cares a lot about his performance and our team."

Sophomore tight end Dennis Pitta, who has emerged as one of Hall's favorite targets this season and is averaging a team-high 68.1 receiving yards per game, has been equally impressed with Hall.

"It's obviously extremely hard at this level," Pitta said. "There's a lot to worry about and there's a lot to handle. I think Max has done a great job handling it all."

Marc Lyons, who was the Cougars’ starting quarterback from 1967-69 and now provides color commentary for BYU games on KSL radio, admitted he had some reservations about Hall when the season began. But now, after seeing Hall play, he said he isn't worried anymore, adding that Hall has improved remarkably from last year when he was on the scout team.

"Going into the season, I felt there might have been a weakness with a new starting quarterback," Lyons said. "But now I think the quarterback position is solid. He's been outstanding and I've been really impressed. He's just been much more accurate in throwing the football. He's accurate on the short throws and the long throws."

Despite the legions of people saying how hard it would be for Hall to lead the Cougars in just his sophomore season, Hall himself was not concerned.

"I don't think [starting as a sophomore has been] hard at all," Hall said. "That's just the type of guy I am. I just feel like I'm capable of doing it so I just have fun with it. There's nothing better than playing college football and if you just study and do your part and learn, then I don't think it's that hard at all."

Despite the solid overall statistics, the season hasn't exactly been a bed of roses for Hall. Especially recently.

Hall started the season off strong, throwing for 1,509 yards and 10 touchdowns to just four interceptions in his first four games. His completion percentage in those games was 62 percent. However, since the Cougars’ 31-6 victory over Air Force on Sept. 22, Hall's numbers have slipped. In his last three games, against New Mexico, UNLV and Eastern Washington, Hall has thrown for just 621 yards and four touchdowns and has been intercepted five times. His completion percentage in the last three games has been just 52 percent.

According to Mendenhall, part of the reason for Hall's recent decrease in production has been a shift of focus to the running game.

Hall says the Cougars’ last two opponents, UNLV and Eastern Washington, play a Tampa-2 style defense that requires dropping more people into coverage, taking away passing lanes that used to be open. Such an emphasis on stopping the pass has resulted in more opportunities for the running game.

Cougar freshman running back Harvey Unga, who was averaging 72.4 rushing yards per game throughout the first five games, has averaged 161 over the last two.

It's because of Unga's increased production that Mendenhall hasn't been concerned with the drop in Hall's passing statistics

"I would rather rush for 100 and use that mark rather than any passing yards," Mendenhall said.

Another reason for the recent decrease in Hall's production is that unlike at the beginning of the season when nobody had anything on him, he's not an unknown anymore.

"After a little while teams start getting film on me," Hall said.

Some will blame Hall for the increasing amount of interceptions he's thrown recently. Against UNLV, Hall was intercepted three times. Lyons says that while some have been strictly Hall's fault, many weren't.

"A lot of his interceptions have been tip-ball interceptions," he said.

Hall says the major reason for his recent struggles, however, besides the increased emphasis on the running game and the amount of film now available, is that he's not as aggressive as he was at the beginning of the season.

"We've been hesitant instead of just playing ball and taking it to them," he said. "I think we're a little tentative. The first couple games, especially against UCLA and Tulsa, even though they were games we lost, I was just having fun playing the game. The last couple games I've been a little bit too conservative and not as aggressive. The whole offense has been like that."

Adjusting to the role as a new starting quarterback is difficult. Adjusting, as just a sophomore, to teams who have you scouted and know what to expect is even more difficult. But no matter what has happened recently, or what may happen in the future, Hall is not the type of person to be dragged down.

"We're not worried about him losing confidence," Pitta said. "He's a confident guy. He's confident in his abilities. We're all going to make mistakes. We're all going to have bad games. We just got to get back on the horse and put it behind us."



Copyright Brigham Young University 26 Oct 2007