Cougs Daily

Career Review of BYU Quarterback McCae Hillstead

Casey Lundquist|
BYU quarterback McCae Hillstead at BYU Spring Camp
BYU quarterback McCae Hillstead at BYU Spring Camp | BYU Photo

Going into the offseason, the only question mark surrounding the BYU quarterback situation was the battle for the backup quarterback job. Jake Retzlaff was the undisputed starter going into his senior season in 2025.

Suddenly, the BYU quarterback situation is in flux after a civil lawsuit was filed against Retzlaff, alleging sexual assault back in November of 2023. As of this writing, it's unknown whether Retzlaff will play football for BYU in 2025 or not.

If Jake Retzlaff is unavailable, Utah State transfer McCae Hillstead will be one of the leading candidates to take over the starting job. We have already reviewed our observations of Hillstead over the last two camps at BYU. Today, we're looking back at Hillstead's career thus far.

True Freshman Year at Utah State - 2023

McCae Hillstead was highly productive at Skyridge High School in Lehi, Utah. He threw for 6,900 yards, 73 touchdowns, and 24 interceptions. He added nearly 1,800 rushing yards and 35 rushing touchdowns.

Hillstead was thrust into action in the third game of his true freshman season at Utah State. In that game against Air Force, Utah State's offense was struggling before Hillstead came in for his first real college football action. The Aggies' offense came to life once Hillstead entered the game. In limited action, Hillstead threw for 202 yards, 3 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions. He was making anticipatory throws and quick decisions - two things that typically take time to develop.

After that game, Hillstead was named the starting quarterback for the following week against James Madison. The Aggies got off to a horrible start in that game against JMU, trailing 24-0 at the end of the first quarter. Then Hillstead and the offense came roaring back. The Aggies came all the way back from 24 down to tie the game at 38 in the fourth quarter. A costly interception in the endzone ended the game 45-38 in favor of JMU. Hillstead ended the game with 399 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions.

Once the game was tied at 38, the wheels fell off for the Utah State offense and the Aggies lost 45-38. He flashed moments of brilliance against JMU and he made some painful freshmen mistakes as well. Despite the loss, Hillstead looked like the quarterback of the future for the Aggies. The next week, Hillstead left the game against UConn with a concussion.

After that injury, Hillstead didn't look like the quarterback that he was in September. He was sidelined for three weeks, then he was in and out of the lineup once he came back and the results were lackluster. He finished his true freshman seaon with 1,062 yards, 11 touchdowns, and 8 interceptions.

Hillstead certainly flashed potential as a true freshman. He made some big-time throws and he injected some life in an otherwise bad Utah State offense. He also struggled with some turnovers, something that's expected from a true freshman in his first game action.

Redshirt Freshman - 2024

After Spring camp in 2024, Hillstead entered the transfer portal and committed to BYU. Hillstead never factored into the battle for the starting quarterback job during Fall camp. That competition was limited to just Jake Retzlaff and Gerry Bohanon. Retzlaff won the job and never looked back. Hillstead used his redshirt in 2024, so he goes into the 2025 season with three years of eligibility remaining.

Published
Casey Lundquist
CASEY LUNDQUIST

Casey Lundquist is the publisher and lead editor of Cougs Daily. He has covered BYU athletics for the last four years. During that time, he has published over 2,000 stories that have reached more than three million people.

Share on XFollow casey_lundquist