BYU-USF preview: Jaren Hall's possible final season starts where it all began

TAMPA — At last, it's finally here.

No. 25 BYU will open the 2022 college football season Saturday at South Florida (2 p.m. MDT, ESPNU) with a returning quarterback, a mammoth offensive line that projects to be the strength of the team, and a preseason ranking in the Associated Press Top 25 for the first time since 2009.

There are more similarities to that 2009 squad than just that ranking, too. For starters, back in 2009, the Cougars also brought back a starting quarterback named Hall (this one, Max) to lead them to an 11-2 season that ended with a win in the Las Vegas Bowl.

The last time this Hall — that's former Maple Mountain standout Jaren Hall, for those wondering — was in Tampa, the 6-foot-1 junior became the first Black starting quarterback in program history in a 27-23 loss to the Bulls.

"It was a special day for me, a lot to remember," Hall said of the game in 2019. "But there's a lot I don't remember after getting knocked around.

"I feel like there's a lot I have to accomplish there."

Unfinished business? You could say that, even if Hall won't. For the son of former BYU running back Kalin Hall and BYU gymnast Hollie Hamilton Hall, Saturday's game is all about this year, this team, and starting off 1-0 in what may be the final season of Hall's collegiate career.

"That's the only one I'm concerned about right now. It's the first game for us, and it's going to start off our season and write for us what it might be like," Hall told KSL.com during football media day in June. "I remember being there, in a unique stadium with the Buccaneers, my first start — and it didn't end how I wanted it to.

"For me, there's definitely some nostalgia and memories. I'm excited to go back and rewrite what already took place, in a better way."

Hall is a redshirt junior by eligibility, but mixed with injuries and the non-counting COVID-19 season of 2020, and the Spanish Fork product has been in school for five years. He's also an NFL draft prospect, with a projected as high as a second-day prospect by some mock-draft services.

So while Hall, who recently became a father as well, won't directly say that 2022 will be his final season at BYU, there's a reasonable assumption that it might be. He says he'll wait to make a decision until after the season, citing the regular cliches of focusing on one game at a time and enjoying the year with his teammates.

Make no mistake: It's a distinct possibility, sources around the program have said. But it also starts with Hall leading the Cougars to success, such as a third-straight double-digit win season before joining the Big 12 next July.

And that starts with USF.

"I expect myself to manage games properly, to be the most prepared person on the team, to keep my team ahead of the chains and help them be in the best position possible to make plays," Hall said when asked about expectations for his junior season. "That's all I'm asked to do. That's what every quarterback ought to do to the best of their abilities."

Offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick has a different expectation for his junior quarterback who threw for 2,583 yards and 20 touchdowns with just five interceptions in just 10 games last year due to injuries.

"He's on a different level this year," Roderick said. "He audibled a lot last year, and we gave him a lot of plays and situations to get us in the right play. We're doing more of that than we ever have since I've been here.

"But he's really smart; he does a great job of that stuff."

It wouldn't surprise Roderick if Hall exceeded last year's mark — if he's healthy, which he is currently.

How healthy — or unhealthy, as it were — was Hall last year, when he suffered a rib injury as early as the third game of the year, one that exasperated a previous injury?

"Maybe a couple of quarters," Hall quipped on BYUtv when asked that question. "It doesn't help when you break your ribs the first game of the season. But it's no different that I had to go through than anybody else."

Hall had the luxury of an experienced backup in Baylor Romney last year, a confident Division I signal caller who hung up the laces to accept a job at Adobe in the offseason. Behind the incumbent starter are young players, led by redshirt freshman and former four-star quarterback Jacob Conover and Boise State transfer Cade Fennegan.

Each of his backups has pushed Hall in some way, head coach Kalani Sitake said. But there's also a reason why there was never a starting quarterback competition in the spring or fall like there was as little as a year ago.

"No one prepares harder than Jaren," Sitake said. "When you have someone that is your quarterback leading the way, it sets the standard. I think we saw how Zach (Wilson) did that, and Jaren's taken it and is making his own. It's a subtle but really effective way of leading.

"I feel like he's in a different phase now going into this year."

Perhaps the biggest advantage Hall sees, though — other than his seasoning in Roderick's offensive scheme — is the talent around him. He knows he doesn't have to do everything by himself, but can rely on a cast of characters that includes NFL prospect left tackle Blake Freeland, Cal running back transfer Christopher Brooks, and veteran wide outs Puka Nacua and Gunner Romney.

BYU returns more offensive production than any team in the Football Bowl Subdivision, according to ESPN's SP+ metrics. For Hall, the biggest key is making good use of them.

"I have so many different guys around me who are experienced and played a lot," he said. "It's not a hard task when you have all these guys around you."

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