Coaches fully behind inconsistent starting QB Jake Retzlaff — for now

BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick said Wednesday after practice that he and head coach Kalani Sitake never seriously considered changing quarterbacks last Friday when starter Jake Retzlaff struggled with turnovers and made a few errant throws in the 18-15 win over SMU.

“We were always in good position to win,” Roderick said. “We felt like some of those mistakes were … very preventable. We need to protect the ball better, for sure.”

Roderick said there was “a lot going on” and noted that two of the three turnovers weren’t entirely Retzlaff’s fault.

“Sometimes it isn’t always perfectly, readily obvious to everyone who is watching,” Roderick said.

However, Roderick acknowledged that if Retzlaff plays unevenly and inconsistently against Wyoming on Saturday (7 p.m. MDT, CBS Sports Network) , coaches won’t hesitate to give senior Gerry Bohanon a chance.

“We have trust in Gerry,” Roderick said.

Retzlaff, who was intercepted twice against SMU and fumbled the ball away once after what Roderick called a “snap count issue,” had played almost flawlessly in BYU’s 41-13 win over Southern Illinois in the opener. Roderick said that performance shouldn’t be forgotten, either, in evaluating the junior college transfer’s body of work in 2024.

“The most important thing is we were always still in a good position to win the game,” he said. “And so no one has a license to make mistakes at any position indefinitely. But we were always in a good position to win the game.

“He did make a lot of good plays in the game as well,” Roderick continued. “There were some things in that game that were outstanding. I will just say no one has a license to play poorly forever.”

Retzlaff also met with reporters Wednesday and said eliminating turnovers “is definitely something we are emphasizing this week, just all around.”

He admitted that he tried to make something out of nothing on the fumble and the first interception, when he should have just taken a sack or a tackle-for-loss and lived to play another day. The second interception, when an SMU defensive lineman fell down , then jumped up and picked off Retzlaff inside the 20, was a fluke, he said.

“Yeah, that was probably one of the luckier interceptions I have ever seen in my life,” he said. “Yeah, I was trying to figure out how I was going to bring that guy (Jared Harrison-Hunte) down. I am glad Brayden (Keim) made a perfect form tackle to get him on the ground, for sure.”

Immediately after the game, Sitake told the Deseret News that he still “felt good” about Retzlaff as BYU’s starting quarterback, and said he doesn’t want any of his players to feel like they have a short leash and will be pulled as soon as they make a mistake.

“We got to rally around guys and give them a chance to redeem themselves,” he said.

However, in his weekly press briefing on Monday, Sitake was less forgiving.

“There are no one-offs,” he said when asked if Retzlaff’s turnovers were an anomaly. “Take care of the stinking football. That’s what it comes down to. I have said it over and over and over again.

“I don’t want guys to have to play tight and feel like they can’t take a chance,” Sitake continued. “But the football belongs to everybody. It belongs to the fans, it belongs to the team, it belongs to the program. It is not just that one player’s ball. It is not his ball. It belongs to all of us. They need to start thinking about it more like that, and even when there is an opportunity” to find an excuse, such as the defensive lineman’s interception.

“You just can’t keep thinking that this is going to take care of itself magically,” Sitake said. “So (avoiding turnovers) has always been our emphasis, and we are going to still keep doing that. But it needs to improve, we know that.”

Running back update

BYU’s top two running backs, LJ Martin and Hinckley Ropati, will miss the Wyoming game with lower leg injuries, Roderick confirmed Wednesday.

“They are not going to play,” he said. “They are not ready.”

Roderick said redshirt juniors Miles Davis and Enoch Nawahine will get “a good dose” of the carries, and freshmen Pokaiaua Haunga and Sione I. Moa will also make the trip to Laramie and be available to play.

The offensive coordinator said any thought of not playing the freshmen until the final four games of the season to preserve redshirt years is out of the window now.

“I think we are at the point now where you gotta play who you need to play to win,” he said. “It is too competitive to try to hold people back.”