BYU Football: What could quarterback Jaren Hall’s season look like?

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Kalani Sitake has gone from fall camp to match-up this week polishing her depth chart, building a scout squad and posting a travel list for the trip to Las Vegas for the opener against the ‘Arizona of Pac 12.

To do this, he needed to get more reps from the starters in the practices, especially 11 of 11s. In Saturday’s scrum, he limited the tackles running backs and QBs are prohibited. It’s a fine line that coaches play trying to protect the health of the players while emphasizing aggression and physical play.

On Saturday, Fesi Sitake put Washington Puka Nacua’s transfer on the field with increased repetitions and he put in some great catches. BYU’s defense tried to put more emphasis on pressure on opposing QBs early in the fray, and they were effective on Aaron Roderick’s offense.

Cougar Insider’s predictions

Question of the week: Now that we know Years Room will start quarterback against Arizona, what kind of season will he have? Predict his strengths and weaknesses, assuming he can stay healthy all year round.

Jay Drew: Jaren Hall is set to have an above-average season for the Cougars in 2021. Asking him to prepare for the type of season Zach Wilson did last year is a big push, given the quality of the opponents Hall will face. .

The last time we saw Hall – the first half against Utah State in 2019 – he was sensational. Concussions kept him from showing more of what he could do that year. So now is his time, and I expect him to shine because he has a big arm, exceptional running ability and good leadership skills. His teammates seem to appreciate him and will rally to him.

He also has a good workout in his corner – Aaron Roderick proved it last year with his work with Wilson – and a nice supporting cast in attack.

Dick Harmon: Aaron Roderick has been looking for consistency and great playing ability and Jaren fits that bill. He will have to increase his precision to be effective in this offense. People should be a little careful with the expectations of any Zach Wilson replacement – he was so good. He was good generational. Hall still hasn’t played much college football due to his concussion streak, but he deserves his chance and BYU is giving it to him.

Hall is a great player and athlete. He can extend plays and when he stops for a race like Taysom Hill he can go the distance, not just take a first down. He will be very good at bootlegs and sprint throws while running. He has good chemistry with catchers and tight ends and is a leader. He fulfilled his role of inherited recruit, son of Kalin room, a former running back.

Cougar tales

BYU golfer Kerstin Fotu became the first woman to qualify for the Utah Open, held at the Riverside Country Club last weekend. The long-hitting Cougar had to play advice with pros from across the country, including former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo.

Zach Wilson had a great week of hype and praise after her performance against the Green Bay Packers. He also received high praise from Romo when I asked the NFL TV analyst what he thought of Wilson’s talent.

Jay Drew attempted to rank the difficulty of BYU football opponents.

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Deseret News Readers’ Comments

I’m getting more and more excited about this game and will be heading to Las Vegas that morning (like many, I jumped in to get the tickets right away). (I expect I-15 will have plenty of fellow travelers heading to this game that day.)

Just read that masks will be required inside the Allegiant Stadium – glad to hear that.

Also read that the Arizona football team is 100% vaccinated against COVID – they should be commended for that.

(I’d like to know where we’re at in that regard. Whittingham said on Saturday that the Utes would likely stay at around 95% with around 6 players still deregistering.)

In a rather unique way, Allegiant Stadium allows you to play both on artificial turf (which the UNLV uses for their home games) and on natural turf (which the Raiders use for their home games). The natural grass is on a gigantic “plateau” which is kept outside most of the time and moved around the stadium for Raiders games. Does anyone know what will be used for our game with Arizona? (I’m assuming artificial turf, but I’d be interested to have that confirmed or disproved.)

– Cougar forever

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