‘We have a clear-cut starter right now’: BYU’s Aaron Roderick updates QB situation ahead of season opener

BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick didn’t announce the Cougars’ starting quarterback in Saturday’s season opener against Southern Illinois when he met with reporters after practice on Wednesday.

If he did, that veering from the established plan would be big news, obviously, after head coach Kalani Sitake said Monday that it won’t be revealed until junior Jake Retzlaff or senior Gerry Bohanon runs onto the field to take the first snap.

“We aren’t saying what we are doing, again, because I want Southern Illinois to prepare for both guys,” Roderick said, repeating the general thought he espoused on his “Coordinators’ Corner” program Monday on BYUtv.

All signs point to Retzlaff as being the starter — from subscription-based fan website revelations to the host’s opinions on BYUtv’s BYU “Sports Nation” television show to a consensus of media members who cover the program.

So the gamesmanship continues. For what it’s worth, Southern Illinois is not revealing its starting quarterback, either. The candidates are returnee Hunter Simmons and Murray State transfer D.J. Williams. A couple of BYU defenders said Tuesday they have prepared for both, but are expecting Williams, 6-foot-3, 218 pounds, to get the starting nod.

Roderick, one of the straightest shooters on Sitake’s staff, did reveal a few other interesting nuggets regarding the quarterback situation in Provo as the program enters its second season in the Big 12. For instance:

• The OC said the SIU game won’t be used as a tryout, of sorts, with the QBs rotating series, or each playing a quarter in the first half, or something similar.

“We have a clear-cut starter right now, yup,” he said, when asked if they want to go into next week’s game against SMU with a “clear-cut” starter.

• Roderick said he didn’t factor in a quarterback’s remaining years of eligibility to make the decision, and never has. This is Bohanon’s final season of eligibility. Retzlaff has this year and next year left to play.

“It is about winning now,” Roderick said. “College football is too competitive to think that far ahead, and there is too much turnover in this game. Every week is a great opponent. So we are not thinking at all about down the road. You gotta win now.

“And I want to say — I have always coached that way, the last 20 years. It is a win-now-first (approach),” he continued. “Sure, you want to develop players, but it is too competitive to think too far ahead.”

• Roderick also declined to reveal who will go into the season as QB3 — Utah State transfer McCae Hillstead or Western Michigan transfer Treyson Bourguet.

“That is kind of an ongoing battle. I will say that, man, both of those guys are good players,” he said. “I feel really good about our quarterback group right now. This is as solid of a group as we have had since I have been here, and I think we have had good quarterback play the last six years, and I expect it to continue.”

• Having said for months that when the right man for the job emerged, the coaches, players and all involved in the program would see it for themselves, Roderick confirmed that that has happened.

“I will say that what I hoped would happen during camp, that someone would separate himself enough to be the clear starter. We feel like that has occurred,” he said. “And so we will have a starting quarterback on Saturday night, and we are expecting good things.”

Several people who viewed the second scrimmage of fall camp say Retzlaff clearly outperformed Bohanon that night. Asked if that was accurate a few days after it happened, Roderick said it wasn’t a fair comparison because the QBs were put in different situations, with different personnel.

“They are both good players and it was a good competition,” Roderick said Wednesday. “It took some time for there to be some separation, but we felt like we got what we were looking for, and I think everybody on this team watched it happen.”

• Roderick said the non-starting quarterbacks, and the entire team, handled the news with class.

“First of all, both quarterbacks were great. They were very professional all through camp. And I think those guys are good friends. And you see them compete on the field, but they also help each other out. And I feel like our players as well have a lot of respect for both of them,” Roderick said.

“The quarterbacks set a great example for how to be professional out here every day, and how to compete, and be a great teammate. And so I don’t sense any division at all by anybody. Everybody wants to win, and we are going to rotate a lot of people at receiver and tight end and running back and once you are playing, whoever is in the game is in the game. And you gotta go execute.”

Is the BYU offense ready to roll?

Throughout camp and game week, Roderick has reserved his praise for the offense and its progression from last year. He was burned a little bit last year when he said the unit had upgraded at every position except quarterback , then watched it fail to do much until the final two games.

“Well, I want to be cautious with how much praise I give them until we go do it in a real game,” he said Wednesday. “But I see an improvement from where we were a year ago. I keep saying the word ‘continuity.’ We have returning players now that know this offense and that have been through a Big 12 season running this system. I expect to see a higher level of execution than we did a year ago.”

Passing game coordinator and receivers coach Fesi Sitake echoed Roderick’s sentiments Wednesday.

“We feel really good about it,” Sitake said. “We have got a lot of experience back and I think it has shown. We have been able to do a lot more with our playbook. We threw a lot at them early. We have dummied it down. I think the execution is at a really high level right now because of it.”

Despite all the “or” designations on the depth chart for the receivers, Fesi Sitake said if BYU starts in its “11 personnel” on Saturday, the starters will be Chase Roberts, Darius Lassiter and Kody Epps. He said Keelan Marion, Parker Kingston and JoJo Phillips are also going to play a lot.

“The ors (on the two-deep) just indicate maybe who is next,” Sitake said.