While BYU was left out of the College Football Playoff, one notable former Cougar did make it into the 12-team dance.
Tulane quarterback Jake Retzlaff, BYU’s starter at the position just a year ago, will face SEC foe Ole Miss Saturday in the first round of the playoff.
It’s been an unbelievable run for Retzlaff with the Green Wave, throwing for 2,862 yards with 30 total touchdowns to capture the American Conference championship after landing with the program rather unexpectedly due to his abrupt exit from BYU.
But even given the circumstances of how his time with the Cougars ended, Retzlaff has never been shy about sharing his love for BYU, most recently doing so this week on Jimmer Fredette’s “From the Logo” podcast.
Here are the highlights of Retzlaff’s appearance on “From the Logo with Jimmer Fredette.”
On why he chose Tulane
“What really did it is coach, the head coach here, Jon Sumrall, he had actually recruited me to go play at Troy when he was there two years ago, when I was getting recruited to play at BYU. And so we had already had a great relationship.
“I remember going on a visit (to Troy) and knowing my opportunity at BYU was so good, and getting to know the coaches on my visit at Troy, I remember walking away from that visit like, ‘You know what, there’s a better opportunity for me to go play at BYU, so I’m gonna go play at BYU, but I would play for (Sumrall).’
“And so it’s funny how things work out and how things come full circle, man. He was the first coach to give me a phone call when I was available and looking to go somewhere, and he shot it straight just like he always did from the beginning. He’s like, ‘Listen, I’m never gonna promise you anything.’ And from a guy who wants to play on a successful team, that’s a green flag, you want to hear that.
“... He said he promised me an opportunity to go compete for that starting job. And I knew that a team coached by him would be prepared to be a good football team. And sure enough, I showed up here on this team. The culture is great, the guys, the minute I walk in the door, these guys are excited to get to know me. I got to give a lot of credit to the leadership on the team and just the guys on the team.”
On facing Ole Miss in the College Football Playoff
“The game is branded Tulane versus NoLane, because they got no Lane Kiffin. But yeah, it’s definitely going to be an interesting deal seeing the way they play and stuff like that. Ultimately, the PR answer to you would be like, we’re preparing to play whoever shows up on that field. What they do doesn’t have very much to do with us.
“But it’ll be interesting to see how that plays out and what they do, right? Because if I’m in their locker room, you’d hope that as a player on their team, their leadership is doing the same thing, where it’s like, whatever happens, like, let’s play, this is our team, this is a player’s team.
“And we believe that at Tulane, we believe this is a player-led program. That has been said more in the last couple of weeks than ever has because of the whole coaching carousel. But that’s been true, especially later, as this team has grown together.
“So it’ll be interesting to see, do they have that? And that’ll make them stronger. And if they don’t, then maybe there’s a crack in their foundation and it shows up on game day.
“We’ll see. But like I said, it’s going to be important for us to get off the bus, get off the plane this time. Last time we didn’t, frankly. We got humbled pretty quickly. We just won a pretty emotional game the week before. The Duke game at home versus a quarterback who played at Tulane last year. So there’s a little bit of a hangover game that those things happen.
“But it’s going to be important for us to get over the conference championship win, to have this bye week to kind of reset and then get after it next week and get after those guys, and show them what Tulane football is because we can do a lot more damage than we did last time.”
On having already played Ole Miss during the regular season
“I think this team that I’m lucky enough to be a part of is a completely different team from Week 4 in the season. I think most teams in the country are. We’ve grown, obviously, we’ve stepped up to the plate in every way, and that’s why we won the conference. We beat teams like Duke earlier in the year that we didn’t know were going to be conference champs.
“... This team can beat those powerful teams, but we’ve also grown to be a better team since then. And so we got nothing to lose, like nothing. A team that has nothing to lose is very dangerous. That’s what I do know, right? When you have that mindset, that underdog mindset, where you’re just coming in and you’re throwing haymakers. We are not scared. We are ready to go out there and play. That is a dangerous place to be.”
On keeping up with his former BYU teammates
“Everybody knows that BYU kind of got snubbed, you know, winning 11 games, only losing to, you know, Texas Tech against the best defense in the country and all that stuff. But man, watching (BYU) has been the highlight of my weekends. Like on top of, you know, winning a football game, watching (BYU) has been just so incredible for me.
“I’ll tell you what, I’ve never been a dude who yelled at the TV for sports games. Like maybe, you know, I was an Aaron Rodgers fan growing up, he threw a bunch of Hail Marys that got caught. I would get excited for those. But other than that, like a regular first and 10 handoff, I would not get excited for.
“But watching everybody on that field who’s a brother to me personally in my life, like, that’ll get you amped up and ready to watch a game, when you watch LJ Martin running right behind (Isiaha Jatta) or Andrew Gentry, Kyle Sfarcioc, you know, Bruce Mitchell up front. Like, that’s my dude, man. His locker was right next to mine, basically, in a little caddy corner.
“But watching Chase make those plays, I was pissed off that Chase was hurt late in the year because seeing him on the sideline in no jersey, he’s mad, I’m mad. Parker Kingston making that last punt return towards the end of the year was so fun to watch, I’m amped up for him.
“... Watching Logan Lutui rush the passer, watching Keanu (Tanuvasa) up front, watching Tanner Wall take off this year and just be a stud in the back end, making sure that no quarterback could float the ball anywhere on the field. Like, the quarterback can’t float the ball over the middle or anywhere on the field with Tanner Wall back there lurking.
“(Evan Johnson), fun watching him. Obviously, Jack (Kelly), (Isaiah) Glasker in the middle of that defense is super fun, man. I could name them all.
“... Always cheering for those guys, man. I don’t know, maybe I’ll get a text from one of those guys because I missed them, because I could name probably the entire roster if I wanted to.”
On his relationship with Bear Bachmeier
“I still have a great relationship with Bear. Even though we didn’t have a lot of time together, we had some good time together.
“Bear, me and him talked on the phone a bunch before he got to BYU. He had a lot of questions about BYU, especially as a person who’s not a member of the church. Straight up, I was like, ‘Bear, you’re going to thrive here, man. You’re going to be happy here, I promise you. ... You’re going to be alright, especially if you’re scoring touchdowns for them. I know that for a fact.’ It’s been cool to watch him progress throughout the year.”
On BYU’s College Football Playoff snub
“It makes me upset that they’re not playing in the Playoff. There was a dream scenario there where if they had won the conference championship and found a way to get ranked No. 5 or 6, me coming to Provo (to face BYU) would have been a dream come true. That would have been an unbelievable deal.
“But unfortunately, it didn’t happen. I tried to hold up my end of the bargain, but I’ll call Kalani (Sitake) and tell him he needs to hold up his next time.
“But that’s another guy that I could talk about forever, being just everything to me, a mentor, a friend, a family member, a brother, everything. He’s been so incredible, and I’ve gotten to text him throughout the season, just about different milestones we hit.
“We won a big game at Duke, or we played on Thursday or Friday night, and he’s texted me, he said the whole team was up watching the game in the meal room.
“... When he tells me the team is watching me, man, it brings joy to my heart. It makes me feel proud of what I’m doing because there’s no better feeling than making your loved ones proud for you. And that’s what that team is to me.”
On leaving BYU
“It was definitely a difficult time with everything that happened, the way it happened, and it was just (an) unfortunate thing that happened. When going through something where there’s a lot of uncertainty in front of you, it’s really hard.
“I went through something similar when I was coming out of junior college. I actually committed to go play at UTEP, Texas El Paso. I had gotten there on campus, been in the apartment.
“I thought I was there on the team, but I didn’t have enough credits from juco to have a scholarship. So I had to go right back home. I had to pack everything in my car and drive 12 hours across the country back to my house in (California).
“So that was obviously super difficult for me ... I felt sorry for myself. And then sure enough, I end up at BYU, which I wouldn’t have if I didn’t have to come home (from UTEP) ... The realization of that hardest, what I felt like was the hardest setback of my life turned into the biggest blessing of my life.
“I just kept trying to repeat that to myself over and over again because I thought it was horrible. I thought what happened was the worst thing ever. And sure enough, the best thing of my life probably came from that.
“Like, my experience at BYU is one of the best situations of my life. I still think it is to this day. It’s done things for me and my family that I couldn’t have imagined. And so going through another hard trial (this past summer) made it easier to keep the faith, because I knew that something great is going to come from this.
“... The people I’ve met here in New Orleans, the experiences I’ve had here in New Orleans have been a blessing in my life. The community I have down here, I wouldn’t have had it if I was still in Provo. And so while a lot of times maybe I wish I was still in Provo, I still love the fact that I made it down here.
“... I think that that would be the best way I’d describe on how I handled that situation. And like I said, I did not handle it perfectly. Like I was pretty upset, you know what I mean? Very upset at times. But through all trials, man, they make you stronger.”
On what he wants to say to BYU fans
“I loved my time at BYU, man, like I loved it. Like there’s so many highs, man. Watching our guys go make plays on the field now brings me a lot of joy, but when I was there, winning the Oklahoma State game with no time on the clock, throwing that ball to Darius (Lassiter) and him making a couple of guys miss to score, like that gives me chills just thinking about it now.
“... (BYU) just blessed my life, like I said, in so many different ways. Coach Kalani, the fact that it was a kind of a story that he might go to Penn State this year, I was like, ‘BYU, please pull your head out of you know where and do not let this guy go anywhere.’
“I can’t thank them for the opportunity enough for what they did for me ... I appreciate it so much.”
