BYU QB Jake Retzlaff Excited To ‘Attack’ 2025 Season
Jan 15, 2025, 1:14 PM
BYU football senior Jake Retzlaff is ready to "attack" the 2025 season as BYU's starting quarterback. (Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)
(Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)
PROVO, Utah — The two times Jake Retzlaff was elevated to BYU’s starting quarterback spot came with little fanfare or announcement.
In 2023 at West Virginia, Retzlaff was appointed the starter for an injured Kedon Slovis. Last season, Retzlaff beat out Gerry Bohanon for the starting job in fall camp.
However, unlike past quarterback battles in the Kalani Sitake era (Taysom Hill, 2016; Jaren Hall, 2021), BYU didn’t make a public announcement highlighting its starting signal-caller.
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Retzlaff, the over-looked QB who slipped through the recruiting cracks due to the COVID-19 pandemic coming out of Corona Centennial High in California and navigated two JUCOs, probably preferred it that way.
Instead of grand fanfare before the 2024 season, he focused on keeping “the main thing the main thing,” which was progressing as a QB and getting BYU back to winning at a high level.
He did that in a big way.
Retzlaff was instrumental in BYU returning to its winning ways as they finished with an 11-2 season and a dominant 36-14 Alamo Bowl victory over Colorado.
Perhaps more importantly, led by Retzlaff on offense, BYU proved they can win at a high level in the Big 12 and be one of the top programs in the Power Four league.
Retzlaff passed for 2,947 yards and rushed for another 417 on 100 carries. The Corona, California native accounted for 26 touchdowns (20 passing, six rushing) during BYU’s memorable 2024 campaign.
In an era when college football players sometimes test the market in the portal to see what type of NIL offers they can get after a successful season, Retzlaff never considered that.
Jake Retzlaff: “I have so many reasons” to be at BYU
Retzlaff has had his share of NIL deals, most notably with the Jewish lifestyle and food brand Manischewitz. Instead of looking for more deals in the portal, he wants to achieve more success on the field at BYU in his senior year in 2025.
“This is a quarterback university. We just seem to forget that a little bit,” Jake Retzlaff said to KSL Sports. “I could talk about the reasons I’m here. I have so many reasons to be here, and that’s why I’m ready to stay and ready to attack next season with the guys.”
Could Retzlaff be a Top Five QB in 2025?
During the ABC broadcast of the Alamo Bowl win over Colorado, play-by-play voice Dave Pasch said that BYU coaches believe Retzlaff will be a “top five quarterback in college football” in 2025.
“I thought he had a very good season. I thought in November, he did not play his best. We didn’t play our best as an offense in November. But I think that if you look at the overall big picture of the season, he had a very good year,” Roderick said to reporters in December on Retzlaff’s 2024 season.
Roderick continued with a bold outlook for Retzlaff heading into the 2025 season.
“…Then just keep [taking] incremental steps into next season,” added Roderick. “I expect him to be one of the best quarterbacks in college football next year.”
Retzlaff has the talent around him to back up those expectations from his offensive coordinator.
BYU’s offense is reloading for next season
BYU’s top running back (LJ Martin) and wide receiver (Chase Roberts) are returning next season.
The Cougars lost some talent along the offensive line, as Brayden Keim and Connor Pay exhausted their college eligibility.
Still, they return Weylin Lapuaho, Bruce Mitchell, Austin Leausa, Sonny Makasini, and Isaiah Jatta, all of whom have starting experience.
BYU could get additional reinforcements for Retzlaff in the trenches if First Team All-Big 12 offensive tackle Caleb Etienne decides to take advantage of the blanket waiver from the NCAA that allows former JUCO athletes like Etienne one more year of eligibility in 2025-26.
If Etienne doesn’t return, BYU still has former Michigan Wolverine Andrew Gentry ready to compete for a starting job along the offensive line.
BYU also added Utah transfer Carsen Ryan to bolster the tight end unit.
When laying it out like that, everything is there for Retzlaff to put BYU in contention for a Big 12 Championship next year. This past season, they were left out of the Big 12 title due to league tiebreakers.
Jake Retzlaff will look to make another jump
An area where Retzlaff will need to improve is the interceptions.
He finished with 12 picks in 2024, with a 5-3 TD-INT ratio throughout the year. But progress was there compared to 2023, where he was at a 1-1 TD-INT ratio.
Taking another step forward will be the challenge in 2025.
Retzlaff and the rest of the BYU team thrived on low expectations in 2024. They had an edge throughout the year that helped them reach 11 wins. Can they maintain that same edge next season, when the spotlight will be much bigger?
He’s in lockstep with his offensive coordinator to try and make it happen.
“Me and Coach ‘A-Rod’ (Aaron Roderick) have an incredible relationship,” Retzlaff said. “I would be surprised if there were many other quarterback/coordinator relationships like ours, to be truthful with you. I’m so excited to attack next year and do it in the blue and white.”
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU in the Big 12 Conference on X: @Mitch_Harper.
