‘Haven’t decided yet’: BYU enters final practices of preseason training camp without having named a starting quarterback

A larger contingent than normal of media members flocked to the BYU football practice fields — now called the Zions Bank Practice Fields — on Monday afternoon to see if the Cougars were finally going to name a starting quarterback for next week’s season opener against Southern Illinois.

But the answer vault was empty, as it were.

Offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick went first among the interviewees and warned reporters that what he was about to say was going to “sound really boring.”

In other words, nothing has been decided yet between incumbent Jake Retzlaff and newcomer Gerry Bohanon, even after a 120-play scrimmage Saturday night under the lights at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

“They are both playing really well,” Roderick said. “You guys just saw both of them make some really good plays in that last drill (that the media watched). That’s what practice has been like all through camp. They are both good players. Haven’t decided yet what we are going to do.”

The last practice of fall camp is Tuesday, then the Cougars will turn their attention to the Salukis and the opener on Aug. 31 at LES.

Roderick and head coach Kalani Sitake said it is a no-brainer that they want to decide on a starter as soon as possible, but they don’t want to hurry the decision.

“We feel really good about the two quarterbacks. We feel really good about the entire (quarterbacks) room,” Sitake said, “but I trust those two especially to win games for us, so we are going continue with the competition and make decisions from there.

“A Rod and I are working closely with the staff, and I know Jay (Hill) is involved with it, too. This is a team decision. What I like is that both quarterbacks have played at a high level, and I feel good about both of them, so that’s a good sign.”

What about playing them both in the opener, rotating series like BYU did in 2010 when freshman Jake Heaps and veteran Riley Nelson were battling it out?

“I would prefer not to do that, but there is always a chance,” Roderick said.

Said Sitake: “I am not opposed to it, but you have a competition for a reason. … This is a violent sport and sometimes quarterbacks get banged up. I don’t know how many quarterbacks can last an entire season, but it is good to have a number of good quarterbacks. We have five really good quarterbacks that I love on our team, and we feel like we can win with a majority of them.”

In the media viewing portion of practice Monday, in red zone work, Bohanon threw touchdown passes to tight end Keanu Hill and running back Pokai Haunga. Retzlaff threw touchdown passes to Parker Kingston and Kody Epps.

Could this competition last until a few days before the opener , like a few years ago when Jaren Hall beat out Baylor Romney and Jacob Conover?

“I don’t know. It is a daily conversation. I would like to do something. I don’t want to take it all the way to game time. We do have some practice time left. I feel like both of them are prepared,” Roderick said.

“They both have enough reps in camp that they could both play in a game, so we are working our way through it still.”

Regarding the battle for QB3 between Utah State transfer McCae Hillstead and Western Michigan transfer Treyson Bourguet, Roderick said that competition is also close.

“Treyson has a big advantage knowing the offense better than McCae, but McCae gets better every day. McCae is a super athlete,” Roderick said.

“And then unfortunately those two haven’t had enough reps because we have invested so much in Gerry and Jake. They haven’t had enough reps for me to say definitively who is ahead there.”

Sitake and Roderick both declined to say who played better in the scrimmage Saturday, mostly because it was “situational” and the QBs were asked to do different things with different personnel.

“A lot of it depends on which (offensive) line you have in, because we pulled our starting O line about half the way through,” Roderick said. “I can’t answer that, really.”