Members of the BYU Football Program Express Confidence in Quarterback Situation

The Jake Retzlaff era at BYU has officially come to an end. On Friday, the senior quarterback announced his plans to withdraw from BYU and finish his college career at a different school.

At Big 12 media days, the BYU quarterback situation was a hot topic. Members of the BYU football program expressed confidence in the BYU quarterbacks despite the loss of Retzlaff.

“I’m just confident in our team," senior Chase Roberts said. "There’s not just one person that’s going to win us games. We’ve been getting the reps in, and whoever wins that battle—I’m excited to see who it is...We are really confident in each of them and we’ve had a lot of reps with them this offseason so we are expecting the next man up. We have a great team, we are confident that any of the quarterbacks that step in that they are going to take leadership as they have been and take control of the team and go win some games.”

On the BYU quarterback room, BYU veteran running back LJ Martin said “The standard is still the same and as long as that standard is there we’re going to be alright.”

BYU head coach Kalani Sitake deferred to Jake Retzlaff to make a statement, but he expressed confidence in the others in the room. "I think the appropriate thing for me to say is that I love Jake, and I appreciate everything that he’s done for our program," Sitake said. "It’s a private matter, so I will leave it to him to make the first statement on his situation. But, I am really excited about the entire team, the depth that we have and the competition that it provides. The QB room gets a lot of attention, especially at BYU. Last year we even had a competition. This year, it’ll be the same thing. It’ll be the guy that deserves it and earns it. We will have someone there by the time we get to the first game."

On what he is looking for in a starting quarterback, Sitake said. "All they have to do is their unique part, which is to be their best. With our offensive system, we have continuity in our staff. They all have to throw the ball, especially at BYU they need to sling it. Luckily they can all throw the ball. We’ll see how they can manage the offense and help us gain points. We don’t want them to risk everything, but I am not minding the risk taking. We will accommodate them with our offensive scheme."

Returning quarterbacks McCae Hillstead and Treyson Bourguet will battle for the starting spot against incoming true freshman Bear Bachmeier. The winner of the quarterback battle has a chance to be the BYU starting quarterback for the next 2-4 years.

Jake Retzlaff's production, at least on paper, can probably be replicated by one of the three quarterbacks. In two years at BYU, he threw for 3,595 yards, 23 touchdowns and 15 interceptions while completing 56% of his passes. In fact, the data suggests McCae Hillstead is similar to Retzlaff on paper.

What BYU will miss most about Retzlaff is his experience. Retzlaff was positioned to potentially take another step forward in 2025 with another season under his belt. Instead, BYU will turn to a quarterback that will be taking his first snaps at BYU.