Tuesday practice report — Max Hall unplugged
It was a windy day in Provo and BYU practiced indoors again today.
Quarterback Max Hall is usually the last one off the field after practice and the reporters who want to talk to him end up waiting a while. It’s always worth the wait because Hall is candid.
Today, Hall was asked a bunch of questions — it was the last time he’s available to the media until after Saturday’s game.
*Hall said one thing the offense is focusing on is avoiding third-and-long situations. He pointed out that BYU was converting 77 percent on third downs early in the season, but the last four games, that percentage has dropped to about 45 percent.
*Asked about his health after getting sacked six times against TCU, he joked: “I’m alright. I feel bad for those (TCU) D-linemen. I know hitting me is like hitting a brick wall. I’m sure they’re a little banged up.”
*How was his weekend? “That weekend felt like it was two weeks for me. It was a long weekend. But it was a weekend of reflection, thinking about how to move forward. It was good for me. It was kind of a down weekend, but Monday, after talking to the coaches, and talking to the team and practicing, I feel really good about our team still. I think we should win the rest of our games. The conference championship is not out of play. I’m excited about the rest of the season.”
*Hall and offensive lineman Travis Bright met with offensive coordinator Robert Anae on Monday to talk about how the offense can get better.
“I don’t want to talk too much about it, what was said. It was kind of some things we thought we needed to change,” Hall said. “We needed to change how we practice, we needed to hustle around all the time. We can’t be complacent with where we are. We can’t be satisfied. I think we got a little complacent and satisfied with how we were playing. When you beat a team 59-0 and you’re playing to perfection, and you’re doing all the little things right, I think we got a little complacent. We stopped working as hard as we should have. We started practicing different. I think that hurt us. We don’t want that to happen. It’s changed and these last two practices have felt right … Yesterday and today’s practices have been awesome. Our tempo’s better, our hustle’s better. We’re very hungry to get back onto the field and play like we know how.”
In other news, linebacker Shawn Doman missed practice due to an illness. Defensive lineman Mosese Foketi was back at practice after catching up on academic work that sidelined him from recent practices. Freshman wide receiver/kick returner O’Neill Chambers was also back at practice after missing Monday. Coach Bronco Mendenhall clarified the reason for Chambers’ absence Monday, saying that Chambers, while trying to return to Provo Sunday from his home in Florida (where he spent the weekend following the TCU game), was bumped off a couple of flights.