This prize comes with a big catch

PROVO — His name is Max Hall, though he might as well be Monty Hall, longtime host of the TV game show "Let's Make a Deal."

That's his job now, isn't it? Wheeling and dealing?

BYU opens its football season today against Arizona, and all the new Cougar quarterback needs to do is act like a game show host — confident, smart, adept and always in control.

Meanwhile, the audience waits in anticipation of what surprises he might deliver from behind Door No. 2. Could it be a new Cadillac, or a pig?

That's a lot of pressure on a guy who hasn't taken a snap in a college football game, yet has inherited one of the more visible jobs in the sport. It's enough to make a person feel sorry for him. Sure, he landed the assignment of his dreams. He's calling signals at one of America's legendary quarterback schools. But shortly thereafter, BYU inadvertently did something heartless.

It invited a couple of legends to watch.

It's bad enough that Hall will have 65,000 history-steeped, pass-crazy BYU fans in the stadium today. He could probably handle that. But Gifford Nielsen and Ty Detmer are going to be there, too. They'll do their best to stay out of the spotlight, but face it, playing quarterback with them around is like auditioning in front of De Niro and Pacino.

Should Hall prove less than inspiring to begin with, he shouldn't shoulder all the blame. But that could happen anyway. He is the quarterback. Fans have grown accustomed to great ones at BYU. Many didn't believe John Beck was a star until the second half of his senior year, or maybe even until the last play of the last game of the regular season. Before that, he was simply the Guy Who Couldn't Win the Big One.

Impressive as Beck's statistics were, he probably isn't in a class with Detmer and Nielsen. Just the mention of their names makes Cougar fans hyperventilate. That's why No. 14 is being retired today. Never again will a Cougar bear the burden of wearing the number. From here on, the quarterbacks can start asking for a more offbeat number like, say, 1 or 97 (Hall is No. 15).

It's not as though Nielsen and Detmer got this honor the easy way. Nielsen, a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, threw for 55 touchdowns and more than 5,800 yards at BYU, then went on to a respectable six-year NFL career. He led the NCAA in touchdown completions, ranked second in total offense and launched the Cougars to their first national ranking.