Oregon State DBs on guard for Hall

Under the best of circumstances, Oregon State would have its hands full trying to defend Brigham Young quarterback Max Hall.

Without one of their top defensive backs, the Beavers' task will be all the more difficult.

No. 16 Oregon State (8-4) will be without senior cornerback Tim Clark against No. 15 BYU (10-2) in the MAACO Bowl Las Vegas at 5 p.m. Tuesday at Sam Boyd Stadium. Clark broke his leg Dec. 3 in the Beavers' regular-season finale at Oregon.

"These guys (in the secondary) that are playing for us have played a lot, but we lost our depth (with Clark's injury,)" coach Mike Riley conceded.

Hall has completed 67.5 percent of his passes for 3,368 yards with 30 touchdowns, but with 14 interceptions. Riley said the Beavers must sustain their defensive heat on Hall, whose mobility can keep plays alive.

"They get so many catches when Max Hall moves a little bit, buys a little time and throws the ball to somebody. He'll drive you crazy," Riley said.

• COMFORTABLY MUM -- Hall received a lot of heat for bashing Utah after the Cougars defeated the Utes 26-23 in the regular-season finale Nov. 28.

Hall, who was reprimanded by the Mountain West Conference, subsequently apologized for his comments.

Among his quotes that day, he said: "I think the whole university and their fans and the organization is classless. ... I don't respect them and they deserve to lose."

Those words must have made going to the grocery store an adventure, right?

"It was fine, just normal," Hall said.

Well, perhaps in Provo. Probably not so much in Salt Lake City.

• UNSUNG JORGENSEN -- Texas Christian end Jerry Hughes was a clear choice as Mountain West defensive player of the year, and he's also a consensus All-American.

But Hughes shares the MWC career sacks record with BYU end Jan Jorgensen, each with 281/2. Hughes had the advantage of playing on a four-man front as opposed to BYU's 3-4 alignment. Jorgensen, though, made a late run with 51/2 sacks in his final six games.

"Coaches have tweaked some things to make it so I get some more one-on-one blocks," Jorgensen said.