Provo » Aside from the fact that he had just two receptions against Utah, the numbers don't really show how much BYU tight end Dennis Pitta was suffering last year after taking a helmet to the knee in the Air Force game.

After being used sparingly against the Utes -- due to a balky knee brace that severely limited his mobility -- Pitta still had five catches for 58 yards in the Las Vegas Bowl against Arizona. But that doesn't mean he was close to 100 percent.

"I wasn't very healthy those last two games," he said. "I didn't want to make a big deal of it, but I was probably about 60 percent. I had a big knee brace, which restricted my movement, so it was tough. I was only a few weeks off that injury. Those usually take two or three or even four months to heal."

The Cougars, who opened fall camp on Saturday in preparation for the 2009 season and resume workouts Monday afternoon, will need Pitta to be at his best this season. Austin Collie, who often commanded double teams and was quarterback Max Hall's favorite target, is in the NFL now, having left school a year early.

That leaves Pitta, who finished with 1,083 receiving yards and six touchdowns last year on 83 catches, as the go-to guy in BYU's offense along with running back Harvey Unga.

The senior from Moorpark, Calif., says he is ready for the challenge, but he has declined to set any personal goals, such as surpassing last year's numbers that ranked him among the elite tight ends in the nation.

"If I am playing my best football, and we are doing well, the numbers will come," he said. "The position I have in our offense, I will be able to get a lot of balls, and be the focal point of that. That's my job -- to get open and catch a lot of footballs."

Hall, whom coaches and teammates say has worked harder this past offseason than ever before, said the same thing of Pitta.

"Dennis is going to have a huge, huge year," he said. "Dennis is so focused this year, it is almost scary."

The 6-foot-5, 245-pounder is again a preseason All-America candidate, after being named a third team All-American last year by Rivals.com.

He was a Mackey Award semifinalist last year, despite having better numbers than the finalists and winner.

"We have been working really hard," Pitta said. "Max has been pushing us pretty good. We all have kind of a bad taste in our mouths from last year, and the way we ended things. So we are really using that as motivation and have been working hard in order to have a good season."

Coach Bronco Mendenhall said Pitta is one of those players he never has to worry about.

"He's been a leader in this program for a long time," Mendenhall said.

Of course, Hall and Pitta are married to sisters, a unique situation that has caused their bond to become stronger.

Away from football, Hall has tried to teach Pitta how to play golf. Hall carries a single-digit handicap; Pitta doesn't.

"Man, that's a tough game, a frustrating game," Pitta said.

Fortunately, football seems like it comes easy to Pitta, a preseason all-conference selection. And he says the knee feels as good as it has ever felt.

"It has been kind of a long road getting back to healthy," he said. "But right now, I am 100 percent, and I don't have any issues at all with my knee going into this season."

drew@sltrib.com