ESPN Mistakes Wrong Person For BYU QB Jaren Hall
Sep 25, 2021, 9:58 PM | Updated: Sep 26, 2021, 4:54 pm
BYU football quarterback Jaren Hall rolling through the pregame Cougar Walk prior to the game against USF on September 25th, 2021. (BYU Photo/Jaren Wilkey)
(BYU Photo/Jaren Wilkey)
PROVO, Utah – ESPN apparently didn’t prep on the looks of BYU quarterback Jaren Hall. They probably thought they would see him in a uniform on Saturday night against the Bulls, wearing his No. 3 jersey. But, instead, he was ruled out due to injury, so he was a little bit harder to identify.
#BYU QB Jaren Hall not in his warmup gear. Chatting it up with Fesi Sitake in pregame.#BYUFootball #USFvsBYU #GoCougs pic.twitter.com/PqcJ8fNZGM
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) September 26, 2021
So he was in regular everyday clothing while Baylor Romney prepared for his first start at QB since 2019. Hall was seen by KSL Sports chatting up with Passing Game Coordinator Fesi Sitake in the pregame.
Well, ESPN didn’t know that.
ESPN thought Jaren Hall was some random person in BYU gear down on the sideline.
ESPN thought they had Jaren Hall
In the pregame of the BYU/USF broadcast on ESPN2, ESPN showed a split-screen of Baylor Romney and who they thought was Hall. Look for yourself.
🤔#BYU pic.twitter.com/IqKFwQ1nGD
— Sam Farnsworth (@Samsworth_KSL) September 26, 2021
Yeah, that’s not Jaren Hall.
Honestly, as someone who has covered BYU athletics for a long time, I’m pretty good with faces around these parts. But I’m not sure who that was myself.
We did get an answer. His name is JJ Tuha, a young football player from Timpview High School.
This is our son JJ Tuha. Jarens dad Kalin actually is on of the coach on staff at Timpview High where JJ plays strong safety at. I’ve been around Kalin for several years and he was my other sons RB Coach last year as well. Jaren is a great kid to be mistaken for. Go Cougs! pic.twitter.com/4BszAHee5h
— jeff 2ha (@JeffTuha) September 26, 2021
This mistake now goes in record books with “Roscoe Mendenhall,” “Salami Kitake” at Toledo, and when Brent Musberger called Tanner Mangum “Tyler Mangum” in the 2015 Las Vegas Bowl.
Oh, speaking of “Tyler,” I mean Tanner, he wasn’t too impressed with ESPN’s mistake.
ESPN off to a rough start thinking that’s Jaren Hall…
— tanner mangum (@tannermangum) September 26, 2021
Hall has appeared on the sidelines wearing a vest sending in signals to Romney and the BYU offense that jumped out to a fast start early in the first quarter against USF.
so who wants to tell espn this isn’t jaren hall pic.twitter.com/xp9oDDHbv8
— kyrie potter (@kyrie_potter) September 26, 2021
BYU and USF can be seen on ESPN2 and heard on KSL NewsRadio (102.7 FM, 1160 AM), your legacy home of the BYU Cougars.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.
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