How Jake Retzlaff silenced the critics

You have to hand it to Jake Retzlaff .

He’s taken a bear trap to the jaws of his critics.

He’s admirably and boldly handled the heavy chip on his shoulder, brought on by a slap in the face handed to him in the summer when experts ranked him as the worst quarterback in the Big 12.

Expected failure. The runt of the litter kind of stuff.

On social media, Pro Football Focus College Football sent out a preseason ranking of QBs. On this list, Retzlaff ranked No. 16 out of 16 in Big 12 quarterback talent.

Retzlaff took note and there’s a photograph of him holding his cellphone out with that ranking, which listed the top four QBs in the Big 12 as No 1. Shedeur Sanders (Colorado); No 2. Noah Fifita (Arizona); No 3. Garrett Greene (West Virginia); and No. 4. Jalon Daniels (Kansas). And he was last.

By Week 3 of the season, that same PFF-College report had Retzlaff ranked No. 1 among Big 12 quarterbacks, followed by Sawyer Robertson (Baylor), Behren Morton (Texas Tech), Sanders (Colorado) and KJ Jefferson (UCF).

Today, Retzlaff has led BYU to a 6-0 record and No. 13 ranking by The Associated Press. His team is bound for a bowl, and possibly in the expanded College Football Playoff.

Historically, BYU has fielded five quarterbacks who have been at this stage of a season with six wins. These include Marc Wilson, Robbie Bosco, Brandon Doman, Max Hall and Zach Wilson.

None of those star QBs faced the kind of schedule Retzlaff has this season. They played WAC, Mountain West and an independent schedule.

The unique 6-0 start attached to Retzlaff and company is indeed a milestone for BYU and some other storied programs. Iowa State is 6-0 for the first time since 1938. Texas, ranked No. 1, is 6-0 for the first time since 2009. Pittsburgh hasn’t been 6-0 since 1982 and it is the first time for Indiana since 1967.

So far this season, Retzlaff has completed 108 passes in 179 attempts for 1,426 yards and 14 touchdowns with just five interceptions. It’s helped immensely that he has been sacked only five times.

His efficiency rating is a respectable 147.5 and QB rating is 65.5.

Buoyed by a top-25 opportunistic defense, BYU’s offense has defeated Big 12 teams by nearly 20 points a game this season.

A big factor Saturday was BYU showing great offensive balance with the return of running backs LJ Martin and Hinckley Ropati. With Retzlaff also running the ball, the team averaged a season-high 5.4 yards per carry. Of note, BYU has been wise in bringing Martin back slowly and being patient in holding out reserve Sione Moa for another week.

No question, BYU’s 0-5 finish a year ago, when Retzlaff took over for an injured Kedon Slovis, had a hand in low expectations for Retzlaff. Those preconceived opinions carried over to his team, which oddsmakers in Las Vegas predicted would win four games in 2024.

Retzlaff has some flaws in his technique. He likes to sidewind balls and doesn’t mind trying to throw while leaving his feet in a Spider-Man kind of way.

But he is a flawed force. His faith in himself, his energy and passion have an impact on those around him. He wants to win. Intensely, he wants the wins.

On Fox Sports’ “Big Noon Kickoff” in Provo, Matt Leinart asked Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young his opinion of Retzlaff’s game.

“He’s a swashbuckler,” said Young.

“That means that he’s not tied up very well. He’s free and easy. He can make a lot of goofball mistakes and that’s what happened last year. I give him a tremendous amount of credit for going to school this offseason. I heard that he spent an inordinate amount of hours in the film room, in the classroom. You both know, this is how quarterback is really won. The game is run by owning the data. When you own the data, you can get ahead of the defense and now you can let your body do the things that are athletically ready to do. So Jake showed up.”

Young said people came into the season with a lot of question marks because of how last season ended and the mistakes he was a part of.

“Everyone was nervous. ‘Is this the Jake Retzlaff from last year?’ — where it was balls flying all over the place, and chaos. He still has moments when you’re like, ‘Oh no!’ But in the end, he’s gotten better and better. This defense is protecting him so that he can now grow into it. I really love the Jake Retzlaff story this year.”

Retzlaff’s next chance to continue to grow into his unique role comes Friday night at LaVell Edwards Stadium against Oklahoma State.

It’s a lofty moment for head coach Kalani Sitake.

But, as Sitake keeps saying, there’s so much more work to do.