BYU Keeping QB Situation Under Wraps Prior to Week One

The BYU cougars open their season in approximately 5 days when they take on FCS Opponent Southern Illinois.

The Saluki’s may not be a household name, but will come into Provo off of an 8-5 season where they competed with the best of the FCS.

Last year saw SIU go into FBS territory and beat Northern Illinois on the road, take FCS #4 Idaho to overtime, and only lose by a score to #1 South Dakota State.

Their efforts and off season additions are enough to put the Saluki’s at spot #10 in the FCS polls in the preseason after finishing last year at #12.

With that information, BYU fans are hoping they aren’t about to go the way of former head coach, Bronco Mendenhall and New Mexico, by dropping to an FCS School.

The Cougars, despite a declining spread, are as of now favored by 14.5 going into the week 1 tilt.

The spread was at one point in favor of BYU just shy of 20 points..

The differential decrease is in part likely a byproduct of uncertainty with who BYU actually trots out this upcoming Saturday.

Specifically at the QB position.

The off season battle between transfer Gerry Bohanon and last year’s part time starter, Jake Retzlaff, has been ongoing and with only days before the first game one player has finally pulled ahead.

The thing is, no one outside of that BYU locker room knows who.

Seen as gamesmanship by some and uncertainty by others, all eyes will be on whether or not the “reveal” will be worth the wait.

Jake Retzlaff, a Redshirt Junior, started 4 games last season going 63/125 (50.4 %) with 3 touchdowns to 3 interceptions.

His 648 yards was done on about 5.2 yards an attempt.

On the ground Retzlaff added 3 more scores to his resume with 116 rush yards.

Jake brings familiarity with the system and potential untapped upside, which is likely intriguing to the Cougars now and potentially for next season as well.

Gerry Bohanon has been playing college ball since 2018, appearing with the Baylor Bears in the old Big 12 from 2018-2021.

After a quick pit stop in Tampa Bay with the USF Bulls, Bohanon finds himself in the new Big 12 with the Cougars.

Bohanon missed the entirety of the 2023 season with a nasty shoulder injury, but is looking to pick up where he left off.

His last 3 games before the injury at USF saw Gerry go 36/57 (63 %) for six touchdowns to no interceptions on 501 yards.

Add 250 rush yards and 2 ground touchdowns during that same time span and one could imagine how eager Bohanon is to get back out there.

His last season as a full fledged starter was 2021 with the Baylor Bears who went 12-2, won the Big 12 and beat Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl while finishing the final AP Top 25 poll at #5.

He tossed 18 touchdowns and ran for 9 more that season in 12 games.

That year he was an All-Big 12 honorable mention QB leading the conference quarterback rankings in rushing touchdowns.

It’s been some time since that was the regular but BYU fans are hopeful to see a return to form for the experienced signal caller.

We can speculate and guess all we would like but it seems the Cougars will be content to keep it hush until the first snap at Lavell Edwards Stadium this Saturday at 6:00.