Max Hall familiar with Wyoming's John Fletcher
This is a week where Max Hall has been eulogized and his offensive line praised almost daily.
On Saturday, it’ll be a great measuring stick to see just how good Hall’s offensive line is and how far it has come in a year.
You might remember a year ago in Laramie, it was later in the season and the Cowboys did put some pressure on Hall. In fact it was a thunderous hit by Wyoming defensive end John Fletcher midway through that game that provided Hall with the most serious injury of his college career, a grade three shoulder separation on his throwing arm. Hall miraculously rebounded against Utah and then played successfully in the Las Vegas Bowl.
The hit by Fletcher was the toughest and most physical of Hall’s sophomore year and there were many such hits, many resulting in fumbles.
So, it will be interesting to see how the O-line with Matt Reynolds protecting Hall’s blindside fares come Saturday. The stat geeks say Hall has not been sacked this year, writing off the fumble/hit for a touchdown that Northern Iowa got, ruling it a forced fumble instead of a sack.
The Cowboys have registered two sacks this year; BYU has had six. But Wyoming has had 5 interceptions to BYU’s 1, and that one was by Cougar reserve defensive end Matt Putman – not the secondary.
The game will be an interesting matchups of QBs. Hall is on his way. Wyoming brought in a transfer to try and “fix” their problem with the passing game. So, far it hasn’t worked very well. It’ll be the Dax and Max Show and Max will win it easily.
Wyoming brought in Dax Crum from Mesa Community College. He had walked on the ASU program before Dennis Erickson took over. In that regard, both Dax and Max are former ASU players and are natives of Arizona.
In 2007, Crum led Mesa to a 9-2 record and a No. 8 national ranking. He was named the NJCAA Co-Region I Offensive Player of the Year, throwing for an impressive 2,807 yards and 23 touchdowns.
So far, Dax has struggled to hook up with his receiving corps, leaving the Cowboys to rely on a strong run attack featuring two outstanding backs, Wynel Seldon and Devin Moore. Moore will be a tough return man to bring down in Daniel Sorensen isn’t available or capable of kicking it into the end zone.
On thing I think you’ll see Saturday is BYU’s continued pressure on the QB from the front seven. It worked against Kevin Craft of UCLA and it will be part of the plan to take Dax and the passing game out of the equation for Wyoming.
Defensive coordinator Jaime Hill acknowledges BYU needs to get more physical after last season. As coordinator, it’s been at the top of his list. Coming into the year, he has made it a point of challenging BYU’s line, linebackers and secondary to gain more respect by leveling hits on opponents.
“We’re trying to do that on receivers doing down field, hitting them after the catch, hitting running backs and getting after quarterbacks by pressuring them. “Our guys have responded very well. We’ve been preaching it, teaching it and we’re seeing it come to fruition.”
Knowing Wyoming, I do believe the ‘Pokes will come in trying to be physical with the Cougars. It will be fun to see which side actually pulls it off. Fletcher on Hall is not something OL coach Mark Weber wants to see happen again.