Jake Retzlaff finally got what he had coming to him — it just took a while.
Saturday night, as the BYU quarterback signed a fan’s shoe after his Cougars put their footprint on Southern Illinois 41-13, Retzlaff smiled from ear to ear. The look of satisfaction reflected the normalcy that he had longed for but found so elusive.
What is normal for most new Division I quarterbacks is a tune-up game or two so they can adjust to the advanced level of competition and, more importantly, to prepare for the bigger ones ahead on the schedule.
Retzlaff didn’t get that chance last year — just the opposite. When grad transfer Kedon Slovis was lost to an elbow injury after BYU’s 5-3 start, the junior college transfer was thrust into action. Of course, he said he was ready — no quarterback worth his salt would say the opposite.
However, truth be told, Retzlaff wasn’t ready, and West Virginia knew it. The Mountaineers, aided by a raucous home crowd, blitzed him like crazy and turned his debut into a nightmare, 37-7. The following week was even worse.
Back in front of 62,000 friends in LaVell Edwards Stadium, Retzlaff threw an interception on the first play of the game. Iowa State turned the turnover into a touchdown and blew the Cougars out 45-13.
Retzlaff’s inability to take care of the ball against No. 13 Oklahoma, including two fumbles and a 100-yard pick-six, cost the Cougars dearly in a 31-24 defeat. Surely it couldn’t get worse for the youngster — but it did.
BYU blew a 24-6 halftime lead at No. 21 Oklahoma State and lost 40-34 in double overtime to miss out on the postseason. Afterwards, standing in the cold rain after four straight defeats, Retzlaff stared into the BYUtv camera and vowed to get better.
To his credit, he did.
Spring practice came and went and didn’t include a single Retzlaff turnover. He stayed on his corrective course throughout fall camp and won the starting job over grad transfer Gerry Bohanon.
Getting a reboot on his Cougar career Saturday against a team that would allow a larger margin for error, Retzlaff was nearly flawless. The second year in the playbook gave him understanding and a second year on the field aided his execution.
The junior threw for 348 yards and three touchdowns with no turnovers. He also became the first BYU quarterback in 10 years to throw for over 300 yards in a season opener. Retzlaff threw deep, he threw short, he called audibles and ran around like a kid who was having the time of his life.
Beating an FCS outfit can be misleading, but Saturday wasn’t about the Salukis — a team ranked No. 11 in the preseason FCS coaches poll. Saturday was about Retzlaff having a normal night — playing loose and free in a season opener as opposed to playing tight and restricted against four bowl-bound Big 12 teams that he faced to end last season.
Athletes don’t get to pick the circumstances around their opportunities and sometimes they face challenges they aren’t ready for. In the case of former BYU quarterbacks John Beck, Steve Sarkisian and Zach Wilson, they didn’t get tune-ups, either.
Beck went 1-3 in his first four starts in 2003, losing to Stanford, Air Force and Colorado State. He went on to throw for 11,021 yards (No. 3 all-time at BYU) and 79 touchdowns and was drafted in the second round of the 2007 NFL draft by Miami.
Sarkisian, as a JC transfer, started 2-3 in 1995, losing the first two games to Air Force and UCLA. However, in his second season in Provo, Sarkisian rebounded and led the No. 5 Cougars to a 14-1 record, WAC championship and victory over No. 14 Kansas State in the Cotton Bowl.
Wilson, now a backup quarterback with the Denver Broncos who attended Saturday’s game, went 1-2 in his first three starts in 2018, with losses to Northern Illinois and Boise State. Once he settled down, he developed into the highest draft pick in BYU history (No. 2 overall in the 2021 NFL draft).
There are exceptions, but in the cases of Beck, Sarkisian (current head coach at Texas) and Wilson, their first impressions were erased by their last ones. Beck routed Oregon in the 2006 Las Vegas Bowl. Sarkisian topped Kansas State and Wilson crushed UCF in the Boca Raton Bowl.
In sports, where you finish can forgive a few slow starts, but showing improvement along the way is what can keep a quarterback on the field, even during hard times — and BYU has a tough schedule that includes five opponents ranked in the Top 25. Retzlaff looked very much improved on Saturday and will get a much better test Friday night at SMU (5 p.m. MDT, ESPN2).
Normal has been an abnormality for Retzlaff since the end of his junior year of high school in Corona, California. He was banking on a banner swan song at Centennial High to get him a scholarship with a high-profile program.
Instead, his entire senior year was wiped out by the Covid-19 fervor. If he was under the recruiting radar prior to the virus, he was nowhere to be found afterwards. So, he opted to play for Golden West College in Huntington Beach. Retzlaff threw for 3,302 yards and 23 touchdowns in 2021 before transferring to Riverside City College.
During 13 games in 2022, Retzlaff threw for a stunning 4,596 yards and 44 touchdowns. As the nation’s top-rated JC quarterback, he found his high-profile program and signed with BYU. As the backup, Retzlaff planned to learn the offense and appear in a few games while preserving his redshirt season.
Slovis played eight games without Retzlaff taking a single snap. But with his injury, the new kid on the block got the call. On Retzlaff’s first play, with the Mountaineer crowd roaring, the quarterback was penalized five yards for delay of game.
So much for normal.
Fast forward to last weekend, after nine months of mental and physical preparation and with a fresh start against an FCS opponent, the delays in Retzlaff’s game look to be over. If they are, then head coach Kalani Sitake’s quiet prodding that BYU is going to surprise a lot of people this year might be on point.
Just imagine, a season that ends with bowl eligibility for a program that has gone to 40 bowls in 50 years — with a gunslinging quarterback leading the way. Now, that would be normal around Provo.
Dave McCann is a sportswriter and columnist for the Deseret News and is a play-by-play announcer and show host for BYUtv/ESPN+. He co-hosts “Y’s Guys” at ysguys.com and is the author of the children’s book “C is for Cougar,” available at deseretbook.com.