Don’t Jump Off the Max Hall Bandwagon

I have been a little frustrated by Max’s performances in the past few games, but let’s not jump off the bandwagon.

Max is a very solid quarterback that is going to leave BYU with one of the best winning percentages in school history. He is also the second installment of the new “Quarterback Factory,” which went missing for a few years until John Beck reestablished BYU as a quarterback school.

Max has played a lot of games, but he is still a work in progress. He makes mistakes—just like every player—but his mistakes are heavily scrutinized because the quarterback position is thrust into the public’s eyes.

All Max needs to do is make a few adjustments when preparing for opponents, and he’ll again become very successful. Many of you have noticed Max has been throwing the ball to Austin and Dennis a lot. In our offense Max should hit six to nine different receivers in every game, which he did in the beginning of the year.

When he returns to spreading the ball around on first and second down, he will find that Austin and Dennis won’t be double covered all the time. As a result, our third down conversion percentage will again be around 70 percent, and the offense will be marching up and down the field again.

There are probably a few other things Max could do to improve his performance. The best person to listen to at this point is Coach Doman. He’ll understand what needs to improve, and he’ll get Max back winning games.

For us fans, let’s remember that the players understand when they don’t perform well. It isn’t a surprise to the team when they don’t play well. I think the most important thing is that we continue to support the players by both wearing blue to the games and cheering from the stands. Let’s not be quick to boo or point fingers.

Max is a good leader, and he’ll do everything within his power to help his team be successful on the field.

Does he need to play better? Of course. Do the coaches need to help him out with better play calling? Yes. Are his receivers going to make big plays and get open? Let’s hope so. Does the Mountain Network need to stop running stories about Max, Dennis, and Austin, and how they all hang out together? Yes.

Max is the most visible player on the team, and accompanying that visibility is pressure. He understands how much pressure is on his shoulders, and he possesses the tools to bounce back and perform well this week.

What are those tools? A short memory, confidence in his abilities, good teammates and coaches, determination, and a great work ethic.

All great players have rough patches during their careers, and if this ONE loss is Max reawakening, then we as Cougar fans are extremely lucky—just imagine how Nebraska, Iowa, Michigan, Miami, Arizona, Washington, and Texas A&M fans are feeling.

If a player doesn’t have adversity in college, it will find them in the pros. If you need validation, ask Vince Young—if you can find him driving around in his car crying himself a river.

I would expect big games this next week from Harvey Unga and Max Hall, and what better place to have success than at home in front of a packed house? Blue shirts, blue skies, green grass, 11 good guys against 11 bad guys—it’s a simple game.

That’s why we all love it so much.