BYU football: Y.'s Hall adds to school's QB factory

PROVO — BYU quarterbacks coach Brandon Doman hardly paused when asked if Max Hall reminded him of himself.

"No," Doman deadpanned. "He's not that good."

If anyone can answer the question about Hall's ability and potential, it's Doman, who was 14-2 as a fiery starter for BYU from 2000-01. Asked to compare Hall to the litany of great quarterbacks in school history, Doman offered lavish praise for his junior QB, who completed 34-of-41 passes for 486 yards in last Saturday's victory over Northern Iowa.

"I think he could be as good as anybody that this school's ever had. I think his mentality is a lot like Jim McMahon," Doman said. "He plays a lot like him, which is a huge compliment because I think Jim McMahon is one of the most fierce competitors that has ever played this game.

"That's where Max fits in, kind of that mold, as a fierce competitor. He's just really efficient and sound in his passing game.

"We're looking forward to a fun season," Doman said.

One game into his junior campaign, Hall is making a case for comparisons — both statistically and artistically — to the likes of McMahon, Steve Young, Ty Detmer and other BYU QB legends.

At the end of his sophomore campaign, Hall ranked fourth in BYU history in passing yardage (3,848 yards in 2007) behind Detmer, Steve Sarkisian and Robbie Bosco through their first 13 career starts. In fact, if Hall simply matches last year's passing total, he'll eclipse the career yardage marks of Gifford Nielsen (5,833), Sarkisian (7,464) and Marc Wilson (7,637) and climb to No. 7 on the all-time passing charts — with one more season to play.

If Hall equals that same yardage total as a senior, he'll climb past his predecessor, John Beck (11,021), who stands No. 2 on the list behind Detmer (15,031).

For now, though, Hall's most impressive stat is that he is 12-2 as a starter.

Despite Hall's glossy stats in the season-opener, Hall and Doman aren't satisfied. Hall graded out at a "B."

"I thought I did a lot of really good things and made a lot of really good throws, but at the same time, I missed some things," Hall said. "I expect perfection out of myself. I need to see the pre-snap stuff quicker. For the most part, I need to be sharper.

"It was a good first game for me, but I definitely have a lot I can improve on. That's a good thing to know there's stuff I can get better at."