ALBUQUERQUE (ABC4 Sports) – BYU quarterback Jaren Hall has been ruled out for Saturday’s New Mexico Bowl against SMU.
Head coach Kalani Sitake was optimistic earlier in the week, but he said on Thursday that Hall will not be able to go because of an ankle injury.
“Jaren’s situation is, we were hoping he would be able to go,” Sitake said. “We did some things earlier in the week that we hoped would take, but it didn’t go the way that we thought it would.”
That means Boise State transfer Cade Fennegen will most likely get the start, seeing how he is the only other quarterback on the roster with any game experience.
Sol-Jay Maiva-Peters and Utah transfer Nick Billoups could also see action against the Mustangs.
“The other guys are capable,” Sitake said. “And you might see one, might see two, might see all three. It’s the last game of the year, I told (offensive coordinator) Aaron Roderick that we don’t have a lot of tendencies when it comes to those guys, so lets just go out there and see what happens. Some guys are going to have an opportunity to step up and show themselves and what they’re capable of doing, and we’ve seen it in practice, and I feel really comfortable with the guys that we have.”
Jaren Hall is officially out for the New Mexico Bowl, and Kalani Sitake said all 3 backup QB’s may end up playing. @BYUfootball pic.twitter.com/GacC6LBFzG — Dana Greene (@dana_greene) December 15, 2022
Hall, who threw for 31 touchdowns and just six interceptions this year, suffered the injury in the regular season finale at Stanford.
Fennegan played in one game in his collegiate career, ironically against BYU.
On November 6, 2020, Fennegan completed 15 of 26 passes for 182 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in a 51-17 loss to the Cougars.
Maiva-Peters and Billoups have yet to throw a pass in a college game.
BYU and SMU will play at 5:30 p.m. Saturday on ABC4 Utah.