PROVO, Utah – BYU quarterback Jaren Hall has navigated a lot throughout his career. Hall has seen it all, from injuries to patiently waiting for his opportunity as BYU’s starting quarterback.

Now entering his fifth year at BYU, Hall is the face of the BYU football program. The 2022 BYU season kicks off on Saturday, September 3, at a place with which Hall has a lot of familiarities. Tampa, Florida, home to the USF Bulls at Raymond James Stadium.

Hall’s first career start at quarterback was in 2019 against the Bulls. The former Maple Mountain High star replaced an injured Zach Wilson at quarterback in that game. It was a historic moment for the BYU football program as Hall was the first Black American to start at QB for the Cougars.

Hall had a productive game, showing his dual-threat ability by passing for 148 yards and rushing for an additional 83.

But he had to leave the game early due to suffering a concussion.

With Hall out, and a young, inexperienced offensive line struggling to protect throughout, BYU lost that game to USF in 2019, 27-23. The loss dropped BYU to a 2-4 record and had raised the temperature on head coach Kalani Sitake’s already warm seat.

Since that humid day in Tampa, Hall navigated a hip injury that sidelined him in 2020. Then he rose to stardom last year in his first full season as BYU’s starting quarterback, guiding the Cougars to a 10-win season and a perfect record against teams from the Pac-12.

One of the three games Hall missed last year was against USF, who BYU defeated 35-27 with Baylor Romney at quarterback.

Jaren Hall looks back on the 2019 game against USF

During an interview with KSL Sports’ Cougar Sports Saturday, Hall was asked if this year’s season opener against the Bulls would be a revenge game for him after what happened in 2019. He laughed that idea off by saying with a smile, “I’m not a big revenge guy. I like to let stuff go. I feel like I’m a pretty levelheaded cat.”

#BYU vs. #USF 🏈 🏟

Jaren Hall’s first career start at QB was a loss to USF in Tampa. Is revenge on the mind? 🤔 #BYUFootball #GoCougs pic.twitter.com/WExOWv7Vcu

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) August 28, 2022

Levelheaded is a great way to describe Jaren Hall. He’s a cool customer that looks poised to lead an experienced BYU offense to new heights this fall. A group that was 29th in scoring offense last year with 33.1 points per game and looking for more. It all gets started on Saturday against a revamped USF team that hit the Transfer Portal hard this offseason.

Excited to get down to Tampa

“I’m very excited to get back out there [to Tampa],” Hall said to KSL Sports. “I felt like we left a lot on the table in 2019. I mean, I got hurt in that game and felt like I let a lot of people down. And I definitely could have played better. It was my first start, that’s no excuse, but I feel like a couple of years later, I’m much more equipped to do what I need to do and to put my team in the best position possible and let them just get out and play. I’m very excited. I know my team; we’re all excited. The offense, the defense, it’s going to be fun. We’re excited to get down to Tampa.”

BYU will leave for Tampa on Thursday, September 1, to acclimate to the time change before Saturday afternoon’s tilt with the Bulls.

No. 25 BYU vs. USF

Kickoff: 2 p.m. (MT)

TV: ESPNU

Radio: KSL NewsRadio (102.7 FM, 1160 AM — Extended pregame begins at 10 a.m.)

Location: Raymond James Stadium (Tampa, Florida)

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for KSLsports.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.

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