Summer work pays off for Hall, Pitta

PROVO — BYU quarterback Max Hall and tight end Dennis Pitta spent countless hours the past summer playing catch in the sweltering heat.

"We spent a lot of extra times throwing and working on routes, things like that," Pitta said.

Their hard work is paying off, and it showed again Saturday at LaVell Edwards Stadium in BYU's 31-6 win over Air Force. Hall completed 23-of-33 passes for 293 yards and three touchdowns, and 114 of those yards went to Pitta, who caught five passes and wreaked havoc on the Falcons' secondary.

Pitta made a 21-yard diving grab on BYU's first offensive series, setting up the Cougars' first touchdown, and he hauled in passes of 29 and 23 yards in the second half. A week ago in a loss at Tulsa, Pitta had six catches for 113 yards and a touchdown.

"Max and I are good friends on and off the field," Pitta said. "I feel like we're meshing well together. We have good chemistry, and we're able to find each other out on the field and hook up for some big plays."

"Dennis is really getting a nice feel with Max," said BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall. "It's been a very effective combination for us."

With Austin Collie out Saturday with an ankle injury, Pitta's presence took on even more importance. Air Force's cover-2 defensive coverage was exploited by Hall and Pitta.

"We were able to get the seam ball a lot. Max did a great job of finding us in the middle when we were open. We had some big plays off of that," Pitta said. "They played a lot of zone, so we were just finding the hole in the middle. They played a lot of cover-2. When they did, we tried to hit the middle. It was usually there."

"We like Dennis, like we liked (former Cougar tight end) Jonny Harline, against any linebacker," Mendenhall said. "We were trying to protect the seam, and that was just a nice read by Max."

Pitta pointed to the play of BYU's receivers, who turned in solid efforts in Collie's absence. Michael Reed caught three passes for 38 yards, and Matt Allen recorded three catches for 22 yards and a touchdown.

"We've got great receivers, we have great backup receivers, so we didn't really change anything differently as far as our game plan," Pitta said. "We ran our same stuff, and we've got guys who can fill in for those who are injured."

Hall said he likes having a stable of talented tight ends, which also includes Andrew George and Vic So'oto.

"All of our tight ends are such good athletes that we want to take advantage of that and get them the ball," he said. "Our tight ends made good plays."

Air Force coach Troy Calhoun acknowledged that Pitta victimized his team's defense.

"I thought coverage-wise they caught us in a couple of two-safety looks and our underneath guy didn't play the look, and the guy stuck the throw and he had a good target to throw to," Calhoun said.

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E-mail: jeffc@desnews.com