The name “Max Hall” has been all over the air waves this fall. And deservedly so. Hall’s statistics this year cry for attention from Heisman voters, and are helping to fuel media attention for the University. I mean, look at these numbers after 4 games.

Attempts 144

Completions 107

Yds 1284

Int 2

TD 15

That’s over 74% completion rate with 7.5 touchdowns per Interception. But The man who is getting “Maximum Air” will be the first to tell you, he’s not the only reason.

It all Starts Up Front

A quarteback is only as good as his offensive line, and BYU may have an outstanding one this year. Coming in to the year, the only starter from last year to not be returning was Sete Aulai. And Tom Sorenson was lined up to take his place. But when Sorenson was lost in the pre-season, the cougars had enough depth to move Dallas Reynolds to center, and bring in his “little” brother Matt to replace him at tackle.

The Best

Coach Mark Weber called them ” The best offensive line since I’ve been at BYU”. Having coached for 27 seasons, at schools such as UCLA, North Carolina and Fresno State, Coach Weber has seen some pretty good talent. He even went on to say they have the potential to be the best line he has ever coached.

By the Numbers

The Statistics for 2008 would support Coach Weber in his accolades for this bunch. After 4 games, 0 sacks (though it could be argued there should have been one in the UNI game), 0 holding penalties, and only a hand full of hits on the quarterback. For a team that throws as much as the cougars, those are some awesome stats.

The Running Game

But it’s not just the protection and success of the passing game that is impressive. Harvey Unga and crew are putting up some great numbers on the ground as well. In fact, the most impressive thing to me was the way that the cougars were able to run against Washington and UCLA. They have not had great ground games against any BCS schools in quite a while. They are allowing Unga to run with Maximum Power!

Recognition

Offensive Line is a position where few see when you do your job, and everyone notices if you don’t. They will walk by the line of reporters waiting to interview Max, or Harvey, or Austin, or Dennis. They will then quietly smile to themselves knowing they are the guys that make it all possible.

The starting five
Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Class Hometown
Matt Reynolds LT 6-6 315 Freshman Provo
Ray Feinga LG 6-5 334 Senior West Valley City
Dallas Reynolds C 6-6 332 Senior Provo
Travis Bright RG 6-5 327 Senior Queen Creek, Ariz.
David Oswald RT 6-8 330 Senior Sandy

Sep 25th by Jim