Max Hall's Redemption

ESPN Article

I found this article on ESPN today and I think it is worth a read. It talks a little about how Max Hall felt after last season, as the BYU Football team struggled to live up to the expectations that were put on them at the beginning of the 2008 season. It is heartfelt and I think it truly reflects Max's feeling on how BYU football has improved from last season.

ESPN Article

2009 BYU Football Schedule

Date	Time (MT)	TV	Opponent	Location	Outcome	Articles
9/5	5:00PM	ESPN	Oklahoma	Arlington, TX	W, 14-13	1, 2, 3
9/12	1:30PM	ESPN2	Tulane	New Orleans, LA	W, 54-3	1, 2
9/19	5:00PM	Versus	Florida St.	Provo, UT	L, 54-28	1, 2
9/26	4:00PM	MTN	Colorado St.	Provo, UT	W, 42-23	1, 2
10/2	7:00PM	MTN	Utah St.	Provo, UT	W, 35-17	1
10/10	7:00PM	MTN	UNLV	Las Vegas, NV	W, 59-21	1
10/17	3:00PM	MTN	San Diego St.	San Diego, CA	W, 38-28
10/24	5:30PM	Versus	TCU	Provo, UT	L, 38-7	1
11/7	12:00PM	MTN	Wyoming	Laramie, WY
11/14	12:00PM	MTN	New Mexico	Albuquerque, NM
11/21	1:30PM	CBS C	Air Force	Provo, UT
11/28	3:00PM	MTN	Utah	Provo, UT

BYU Oklahoma Game

What a weekend it has been for college football. Okay, not really. Most of it turned out the way the analysts predicted, with the exception of one game - BYU vs. Oklahoma. Nobody expected BYU to play as well as they did against the number 3 team in the country.

Key to the Win
Many people have said it was Max Hall who was instrumental in BYU's upset of Oklahoma. While I feel he was key leader in the game and led a very important scoring drive in the fourth quarter, I feel there was anothe key to BYU's suceess on the football field. The defense was excellent. They held the Sooners to only 265 total yards in the game. If you want to blame that on Bradford's injury, think again. The reigning heisman trophy winner, only threw for 96 yards in the first half, which means he was on track for about 200 or so total yards passing. Wasn't his average last year something like 500 yards per game? The Cougar defense was impecable.

The offensive line deserves credit too. While many say that Oklahoma's struggles began with their "rookie" offensive line, I believe that BYU's "rookie" offensive line did an excellent job of protecting Max Hall. They are "rookie" and did make some mistakes. So I can't call them the key to the win, but I do feel that they did an excellent job and will undoubtably soon be as strong if not stronger than last years line.

One Last Thought
I am happy to have McKay Jacobson back from his mission. Austin Collie will be missed, but Jacobson will fill his shoes well. He was a bit jittery in his first game back and in front of a crowd full of his family and hometown friends. But he will do better and become BYU's leading receiver this season.

Way to go Cougars. You beat the Oklahoma and got your picture plastered all over ESPN's front page.