Shreveport, La. • Jaren Hall came out of the tunnel the rest of his teammates as it rained on the Independence Stadium field. He warmed up while wearing his full uniform, just as he had done for the other 10 games he started in 2021.
But this time was different. On the final night of the season, one of the the Cougars’ top offensive threats had to sit out the Independence Bowl against the University of Alabama at Birmingham because of an injury to his right leg.
Sophomore quarterback Baylor Romney started in place of Hall in Saturday’s 31-28 loss to UAB. It was his game action since Nov. 6 against Idaho State, a game where he only made 12 pass attempts after Hall and the Cougars already had the game in hand.
Romney threw 15 of 23 for 195 yards against the Blazers.
Hall, also a sophomore, reportedly suffered the injury in the team’s regular-season-closing win over USC. After the postgame press conference in Los Angeles, he walked off the podium in a noticeable limp.
After the game in Shreveport, Hall was again wearing the boot on his right foot. But when asked about the outlook of Hall’s injury, coach Kalani Sitake was not concerned. He said his star quarterback will not need surgery to repair the injury.
“[We] didn’t have enough time for him to recover,” Sitake said. “And when we were looking at it, we felt like Baylor has had some great moments in practice and great prep. So we felt like that was the best bet for us going forward.”
Sitake said Hall was practicing with the team “here and there,” but he ultimately decided a healthy Romney was better than a banged-up Hall.
BYU’s season was partly defined by injuries to key players. Hall earlier in the season was battling a rib injury that kept him out two games.
BYUtv first reported the news before the game that Romney would be starting. A team spokesman said Hall was available to play. However, that situation would likely only be used in an emergency situation.
Romney had played in four games this season prior to his start on Saturday.
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