Pre-Season All-American, All-non-AQ

Well no surprise to anyone, but the only player from the MWC that was voted to be a preseason All-American was............DE Jerry Hughes (TCU). Hughes is an offensive lineman's nightmare. At 6'3" 257 lbs he led the nation, not the conference, in sacks last season with 15. This picture gives me bad memories of last year's game, but it shows what kind of athlete this guy is. Tall, very strong, and just a mean dude. That's what you've gotta be when you play D-Line. Congrats Jerry! Just hope he isn't standing over us again this year...

With Hughes being the only All-American in the conference, we get to the All-

Non-AQ team. Some of the notable players that I wanted to mention here were:

Dennis Pitta TE, BYUPitta was one of the keys of BYU's explosive offense last season. He was the second leading receiver for the Cougars with 83 receptions, 1083 yards, 6 TD's. Hey Dennis, how bout you try and break Austin Collie's record and make it 12 consecutive games with 100+ receiving yards per game?

Stevenson Sylvester LB, UtahThe 6-2 230lb Senior linebacker should be the anchor for a Ute defense that should be decent after losing some key players to the NFL. With a total of 73 tackles last year and 8 of those for a loss, he should be increasing those stats this upcoming season since Paul Kruger won't be there to steal his TFL.

Max Hall QB, BYUAfter the second half of last season, I lost my hope in Max Hall. Since it has been over 9 months since I have watched him play, those feelings of hopelessness have gone, and I have a renewed sense of hope. Max Hall is one of the best QB's in the country. When he is composed and has time to throw, there is nothing that can be done to stop him. Now don't tell this to any team that BYU will play this year, but the secret to stopping him is getting pressure on him and knocking him down. If this happens, he loses his composure and he turns the ball over 6 times in one game (November 22, 2008 in SLC). Good luck Max. Let's end the year better than we ended last year!