Last year, on a flight bound for Phoenix from Salt Lake City, Ty Detmer found himself sitting next to Max Hall's family.

That connection came in handy during September's rough BYU loss to Florida State, when the legendary Cougar signal caller Detmer shot the current BYU quarterback's parents a text message, encouraging their boy to hang in there.

Today, Detmer may get another chance to deliver a wholly different note. If Hall and nationally ranked BYU beats New Mexico after a noon kickoff -- highly likely, considering the Lobos haven't won a game in nine tries -- they'll have something great in common.

Yes, Hall is fit to be Ty -- and tied -- at 29 wins as a BYU quarterback.

"Max has had a great career," said Detmer, the 1990 Heisman Trophy winner of a fellow three-year starter. "He's handled himself well and been real poised. His senior year's been a little like mine. He lost some players and had a young offensive line. He threw some interceptions early in the year. But he's got a handle on everything it takes to succeed at BYU."

To think, it could have been everything it takes ... at Arizona State.

He and Rudy Carpenter were freshmen who redshirted in 2004, Hall choosing to stay near his Mesa home, as the school's bloodlines (ASU great Danny White is his uncle, for starters) flowed through his veins.

Andrew Walter, during that first college season for Hall, was on his way to becoming the Pac-10 Conference's all time leader in touchdown passes (surpassing some guy named John Elway, though since broken by USC's Matt Leinart) but the future appeared wide open at ASU. Sam Keller, then a sophomore, was perceived as the next in line. Carpenter, a California prep standout, was the prime 2005 challenger while Hall was away.

Former ASU coach Dirk Koetter told the Daily Herald this week he secretly wished from the opening weeks of fall camp -- when Hall was making his decision five years ago to do church service -- that Hall would stay.

Koetter, who grew up in Idaho and says he was plenty familiar with Mormon culture, said there was "no way" he'd meddle with a young man's personal life. But all things being equal, "I always kind of hoped in back of my mind he wouldn't go on a mission," Koetter said. "Or if he did, I wished he would come back to us even though I knew that a lot of those kids come back from missions and feel a sort of calling to go to BYU. Recruiting would get re-opened up. In my heart, I had a feeling I knew what he was eventually going to say."

Hall recalled a slightly different scenario, telling Arizona reporters last season that Koetter asked him to delay his mission, and that a pledge was made to give him first-string snaps to compete for the starting job with Keller and Carpenter.

Hall's decision to stick with his initial plan was a sinking feeling to Koetter, and he chuckled after being made aware this week of Hall's place in BYU history: "There's no doubt in my mind that if he stayed at ASU, he would have been a record-setting quarterback there."

Hall's choices -- going on a mission, leaving Iowa early for personal reasons and, ultimately, justifying Koetter's fears -- unwittingly set off a chain of life-changing events at two schools.

At ASU, the sophomore Keller was lost midway through the 2005 season because of a torn ligament in his throwing thumb. While Hall was in Iowa proselytizing, Carpenter led the country in passing efficiency.

Koetter's immediate good fortune also turned out to be, in his estimation, a down-the-road problem. He insists he wanted to keep Hall, thinking he'd still be the guy upon return from the mission field. But the coach also figured that Hall would use Carpenter's success (and much eligibility remaining) as a one-way ticket to Provo.

"I had a feeling when Max came back, he'd say 'Rudy's going to be ahead of me, when we were even when I left,' " said Koetter, now an NFL offensive coordinator with the Jacksonville Jaguars. "I really wanted Max back. Those guys we had were all good, but I thought he had the chance to be better than all of them. He may have been a little undersized, but I thought he had all of the athletic ability, plus the intangibles. BYU found that out."

Koetter was fired following the 2006 season, after Hall had made his choice. Koetter's final year in Tempe was mocked during fall camp, when he made an infamous flip-flop at the quarterback spot.

Keller fled to Nebraska, and was solid until an injury late in the season. Koetter was gone from Tempe at the end of the year.

At BYU, meanwhile, Hall's arrival sent hopefuls to replace John Beck, including Jacob Bower and Cade Cooper -- both recruited mostly by previous coach Gary Crowton -- on a dizzying array of transfers.

All the while, Hall found his home. He's said that a key reason he chose BYU was to immerse himself among people with similar values and beliefs. He has since gotten married, and wife Mckinzi is pregnant -- a path much more common at BYU than ASU or most other universities.

Rarely do quarterback transfers work out -- one look at the mere history of former BYU players suggests as much -- but Hall was a different circumstance with an extraordinary result.

"I am very fortunate to be the coach when Max has been here as the quarterback," fifth-year BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "He's a very good player, he's a great leader and he has helped us win a lot of football games."

Yes, he has. If only his place in BYU quarterback lore was so easy to distinguish.

There were 43 votes placed on Hall in one of nine categories in a Daily Herald poll, comparing him to his Cougar ancestors. The most popular choices (nine ballots each) were being among the five best; being among the seven best; and being very good, not great.

Hall will not win a national title like Robbie Bosco, break records like Jim McMahon or win a Heisman like Detmer. He will not lead the program to an exotic, defining postseason game, like Steve Sarkisian to the 1996 Cotton Bowl. In fact, Hall is likely to have just one league title, in 2007 as a sophomore. His portfolio would not be called sexy.

Critics point to his negatives, that he's lost some games against highly ranked opponents, but also use a list of positives against him.

For instance, running back Harvey Unga -- over the same duration as Hall -- will likely today become the school's all-time leading rusher (he needs 71 yards at UNM to best Curtis Brown's 3,221 career rushing yards). Also, tight end Dennis Pitta (Hall's brother in-law) could make a case as the school's best tight end.

And there are some who argue Hall's three years of service is a knock against him, because many of BYU's best quarterbacks saw no more than two.

Tough crowd, which any of Hall's predecessors would also quip is nothing new for a BYU quarterback to face.

"BYU hasn't won 10 games for three straight years for 24 years. It is not easy to do, and he's been the quarterback to help us do it," Mendenhall said. "And maybe a fourth if we continue to play well. I think that speaks a lot to how well he has played for us."

Right now Hall is second in the country in passing efficiency and No. 1 in third-down conversion, signs to quarterbacks coach Brandon Doman at how strong his protege is at managing the offense.

Take the nine quarterbacks at BYU who have won 20 games, and Hall is fourth in winning percentage (see chart below).

He is 28-7, compared to Detmer's 29-9-2. Detmer had the Miami win in 1990, and he counseled Hall weeks before this year's season opener on how to get a similar milestone victory against Oklahoma, which Hall did over Labor Day weekend in part by leading a late touchdown drive. Be patient, pick your spots, trust your instincts and prepare, Detmer advised.

The Cougars lost badly to Florida State and TCU, though it could be argued there were other factors besides Hall in defeat. In fact, offensive coordinator Robert Anae praised Hall after the 38-7 loss to TCU.

Hall bounced back last week against Wyoming, completing 20-of-22 passes, getting a 52-0 win that set him up for history today in Albuquerque.

Doman said the win total is "more important to the team than it is to Max," while Hall concedes it's one stat he pays attention to.

True, Hall has just one league title. But it could be argued not many of his contemporaries when they were in the Western Athletic Conference ran into such ferocious foes as Utah has become, nor was there a defensive force like TCU, which joined the Mountain West in 2005 and is likely on its way to a second MWC title.

Like a U.S. president, it'll take years to sort out Hall's standing. One thing, though, Koetter notes, is he's not surprised the kid who opted not to do the Devils' work is in the mix.

"Max was raised in a football family, he came from a great high school program, the same one that produced (Hall's predecessor) John Beck," Koetter said. "Max just got it, he had the 'it' factor. The way he threw the ball, his competitiveness, how disciplined he was. It wasn't ever about a single moment with knowing how good Max was going to be. It was a series of events over time."

Like the process of racking up wins.

Fit to be Ty-ed

Quarterbacks credited with at least 20 wins as starters at BYU. With a win today, Hall would tie Detmer for career wins as the Cougars' starting signal caller.

PLAYER RECORD WINNING PCT.

1. Ty Detmer 29-9-2 72.5

2. Max Hall 28-7 80

3. Jim McMahon 26-4 65

4. Robbie Bosco 24-3 88.8

5. John Beck 23-16 58.9

6. Marc Wilson 22-4 84.6

7. Steve Sarkisian 21-5 80.7

8. Kevin Feterik 21-12 63.6

9. Steve Young 20-6 76.9