There will be no Cinderella story for Tulane in this year’s College Football Playoff.
Former BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff and the Green Wave fell 41-10 to the Ole Miss Rebels Saturday in the CFP’s first round, bringing an end to Retzlaff’s eventful but accomplished college career.
Retzlaff completed 20 of 35 passes for 306 yards against the Rebels with a late touchdown pass and a first quarter interception.
Typically a strong running threat, having run for 610 yards and 16 touchdowns this season prior to Saturday, Retzlaff was held to 24 yards on 11 carries by Ole Miss, being sacked twice.
In 31 career starts at BYU and Tulane, Retzlaff posted a 22-9 record with 6,763 passing yards and 63 total touchdowns.
He began his college journey at the junior college level before landing in Provo ahead of the 2023 campaign. Retzlaff took over as BYU’s starter for the final four games of the season following an injury to Kedon Slovis, famously becoming the first Jewish starting quarterback in school history.
Though Retzlaff went 0-4 to finish 2023, he won the starting QB job over transfer Gerry Bohanon in 2024 and piloted the Cougars to a 11-2 mark to tie for first place in the Big 12 Conference and capture an Alamo Bowl victory over Colorado.
Retzlaff was expected to start for BYU again in 2025, but a civil lawsuit filed this past May accusing him of sexual assault and battery resulted in his withdrawal from the school and eventual enrollment at Tulane. The case was ultimately dismissed in June.
Despite joining the Green Wave just weeks before the start of fall camp, Retzlaff won the team’s starting quarterback job and powered Tulane to a 10-2 regular season and American Conference championship game win over North Texas, clinching the program’s first-ever CFP appearance.
Earlier this week, ESPN wrote Retzlaff could be selected as high as the sixth round of April’s NFL draft.
