BYU football: Hall leaving a legacy as the Cougars' No. 1 on wins list

PROVO — BYU quarterbacks coach Brandon Doman remembers watching Max Hall during a Thursday night scrimmage in 2006, when Hall was redshirting.

Afterward, coach Bronco Mendenhall leaned over to Doman and said, "We're going to win a lot of football games with that guy."

Mendenhall was right. Hall has 31 career victories, more than any other quarterback in Cougar history.

"I'm fortunate to have seen him win so many games, which is an unprecedented accomplishment for BYU," Doman said this week. "I don't know how we can thank him more for what he's done for the program."

Doman knows the final game of Hall's career — the Dec. 22 Las Vegas Bowl against No. 16 Oregon State (6 p.m., ESPN) — will be an emotional one.

"It's kind of bittersweet for him to finish — both for him and me and the program," he said. "He's had a phenomenal career. I couldn't be happier."

Hall is eager to finish up his collegiate career with a victory in Las Vegas.

"We have a great opportunity. I think Oregon State is a very good team out of the Pac-10," Hall said. "I think it's going to be a great game. All I can do is give my very best effort and hopefully come out with a win. No matter what happens, I'll always remember this team and what we've done. Hopefully, we can finish right."

After throwing the game-winning touchdown pass to Andrew George to beat Utah, 26-23, in overtime, Hall vented his feelings about the Utes. Will those comments overshadow what he's done on the field during his career?

"I think it will be a smaller percentage of people that will remember him for that," Doman said. "I've had e-mails and phone calls on the negative side, but the positives far outweigh the negative since his comments.

"I truly believe the fans out there will remember him for the great things that he's done. He made a mistake there, but at the end of the day, they're going to remember Andrew George catching the touchdown and Austin Collie catching the fourth-and-18 (in a win over Utah in 2007), and McKay Jacobson catching the ball in the end zone against Oklahoma (in the 2009 season-opener) far more than they're going remember telling Utah he didn't like them. In 10-15 years, I can assure you that's what they'll remember."

Fans will likely remember what happens against Oregon State, too.

OSU coach Mike Riley knows his defense will be tested by Hall.

"This guy is experienced and productive. The chances of rattling him are tough," Riley said. "You're talking about a guy who has been through a lot and has been as productive as heck. This guy's been doing it for a long time."

The way Hall's career turned out was not what he expected way back in 2004, when he redshirted at Arizona State as a true freshman, before transferring to BYU.