ITG 114 - No Huddle: Who is Jake Retzlaff?
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00:00 [MUSIC]
00:05 In the gun episode 114, I'm Skylar Callen, that's Jed running the signal caller.
00:10 And we've got a guest with us today.
00:12 It is Casey Lundquist, who covers the BYU Cougars for Fan Nation on SI.
00:18 And we weren't expecting to do this, this kind of all came together last second.
00:22 That's why it's a no huddle episode.
00:24 Because BYU decided at the last second that they're gonna make
00:27 a quarterback change and that was due to Keaton Slovis dealing with some injury
00:31 issues, so sorry Mountain Deer fans, you won't be able to sing those words that
00:36 you wanna sing back to Keaton, maybe that he sung a year ago in Pitt at the pep
00:41 rally, but nonetheless, bigger picture here.
00:44 This is a late curve ball for West Virginia defensive coordinator Jordan Les,
00:48 who's gotta prepare for a whole new quarterback now.
00:51 So to get the latest on this quarterback move and
00:54 to get an idea of what Jake Retzlaff brings to the table,
00:57 we're gonna go and ask Casey his thoughts on this and what it means for the Cougars.
01:00 So Casey, thank you for joining us and
01:03 go ahead and plug your stuff if you want to while you're at it.
01:07 >> Yeah, no problem, happy to be here.
01:09 Yeah, like Skyler, you can find my stuff on the SI domain,
01:13 the BYU Fan Nation page, si.com/college/byu.
01:19 So we cover everything we can about BYU and it's an exciting time of year.
01:25 >> Yeah, let me ask you this.
01:29 Let's start with this, Casey.
01:30 As this pivot took place last night, the information started leaking out.
01:36 I thought, boy, here we go.
01:37 So all I was left to do with a kid who hasn't played a snap this year for
01:42 BYU yet because they were hoping to redshirt him.
01:44 Well, now here we are, four games left.
01:46 I was left to look back to his junior college tape.
01:49 And so I watched it as extensively as I could last night.
01:52 And obviously, he's impressive.
01:54 And his skill set is much different from Keaton Slobus.
01:59 Slobus is statuesque.
02:01 This kid is not.
02:02 I wouldn't necessarily call him a runner, but
02:03 he can certainly hurt you running the football.
02:06 One thing that was apparent to me in watching his tape,
02:08 I thought this kid has to play baseball.
02:10 He was delivering all these off-platform throws,
02:13 throwing from all angles, throwing off his back foot.
02:16 So walk us through what we can expect, the back story, how he landed in Provo.
02:22 Tell us about Jake.
02:22 >> Yeah, it's a really, really good question.
02:26 Jake kind of had a unique path to BYU.
02:31 When he was being recruited out of Riverside Community College,
02:36 he was a lesser known product.
02:39 I think especially as a Juco player,
02:43 those guys are often overlooked now with the transfer portal.
02:46 So BYU kept his recruitment completely quiet.
02:50 There were rumors of his visits to BYU, but
02:54 really few people knew about him until BYU announced his signing.
02:58 He received a few smaller offers from smaller schools, but
03:05 he actually grew up in California, not associated with BYU by way of the church or
03:10 anything, but he grew up watching BYU quarterbacks,
03:13 the BYU quarterbacks of old that you might remember.
03:17 But most recently, the John Becks and Max Hall, those guys that had a lot of
03:22 success at BYU, and he kind of knew of the aura of BYU quarterbacks in BYU football
03:27 history, so when he got an opportunity to talk to BYU, he recognized the why.
03:34 And he shut down his recruitment,
03:36 he committed quietly to BYU while they worked out his transcripts.
03:41 And he even gave them the green light to continue looking at the transfer portal.
03:44 So meanwhile, BYU signed Keaton Slovis as kind of a one year veteran quarterback,
03:51 so that Jake could come in and learn the system.
03:53 And you are right, he is very different from Keaton Slovis.
03:58 He does prefer to pass the football, but he is more mobile.
04:03 And frankly, he kind of fits the mold that BYU has looked for
04:07 at quarterbacks under Aaron Roderick.
04:09 If you look at the last two years, it's been a weird year for
04:14 BYU in that the defense has actually been more productive than the offense.
04:20 The reverse has been true over the last four or five years.
04:23 BYU has had one of the most efficient offensive attacks under Aaron Roderick.
04:29 But the quarterbacks were Zach Wilson, who will start for
04:32 the Jets on Monday night, and Jaron Hall, who will start for the Vikings on Sunday.
04:36 So BYU has kind of been spoiled with some high level quarterback play.
04:41 But the similarities between those two and Jake is that they're not afraid
04:47 to throw off platform, to play off script, and to use their legs.
04:52 Not necessarily to gain yards, but to buy time.
04:56 And I think for BYU offensive line, it's had a few struggles,
05:00 especially over the last few weeks to protect the quarterback.
05:03 He might be exactly what the doctor ordered for
05:08 a BYU offense that's frankly been stagnant.
05:12 The offensive metrics are not kind to BYU.
05:18 Now they've been winning games by being ultra efficient in the red zone.
05:22 But they weren't efficient in the red zone against Texas and
05:24 you saw what happened.
05:26 They only put up six points and it wasn't pretty.
05:28 So Jake, as you mentioned, Jake's a baseball player, he played shortstop.
05:33 He was a senior during the 2020 COVID year and he prepped in California.
05:38 So he did not have a chance to play high school football as a senior.
05:43 He still had a chance to go play junior college, so he kind of bet on himself.
05:47 And he was ultra productive at the JUCO ranks over two years,
05:50 over at two different schools.
05:52 I have the stats up here, but in his last season,
05:58 he threw for 4,600 yards, 44 touchdowns.
06:02 And he ran for a couple more touchdowns on top of that.
06:05 In total in two years, he racked up 7,900 yards, 82 touchdowns, and
06:10 he didn't lose many football games.
06:12 So he was ultra productive, but again, he's still an unknown for this game.
06:21 He's gonna face a defense with a lot more speed, it's a lot more physical, and
06:26 we'll see how he reacts.
06:28 But certainly there's a lot to like about his film, and
06:31 we'll see if it can translate from the JUCO level to Power 5 football.
06:35 >> We gotta ask, the Keaton's flow is injuries, what have they been?
06:38 They say he's been dealing with it for weeks.
06:40 What were those injuries?
06:41 What are those injuries?
06:42 >> Yeah, as I mentioned, the offensive line has struggled a little bit, and
06:47 Keaton can't really escape much of a pass rush.
06:50 So he has been dealing with what I believe was a shoulder injury dating back
06:55 to the Arkansas game, and it was interesting when Jake
07:02 won the backup quarterback job, BYU said during fall camp outright,
07:07 Jake is a backup quarterback, but we want to preserve his red shirt.
07:12 BYU sees Jake Redslap as a potential starting quarterback over the next
07:16 few years, and he's now officially preserved his red shirt.
07:20 He can play the rest of the way.
07:22 And Keaton on the very last play against Texas, he got hit pretty hard.
07:30 It was a strip sack, a turnover in the last few minutes of the game.
07:34 And while I can't confirm that for sure, you'd probably have to ask Keaton, but
07:38 I believe it was on that play, and he's been hurt ever since.
07:43 And as far as I'm aware, he was not able to practice this week.
07:47 So he might dress tomorrow and be ready in an ultra emergency situation,
07:54 where you're to your second or third string quarterback.
07:56 But it appears that the injury this week is just too
08:01 much to overcome after that late hit against Texas.
08:04 >> Anytime you have a quarterback that's maybe not lighting it up as Keaton was
08:10 having his own fair share of struggles, you kind of wonder how much of it's injury,
08:14 how much of it's wanting to look forward to another guy and
08:16 just see if there's something there.
08:18 West Virginia kind of, a lot of fans in West Virginia thought that last year with
08:22 JT Daniels that they thought, no, is he just going through something?
08:25 Cuz he's not what he once was at the beginning of the season.
08:28 And then he just ended up turning to Garrett Green and
08:30 it paid off for them in big dividends.
08:32 But that could be the case here for BYU.
08:35 Maybe they just need a quarterback change.
08:36 And to me, I mean, you can correct me if I'm wrong.
08:39 But it just felt like Keaton was a square peg in a round hole in that offense.
08:42 He's not what they've traditionally had at that position in terms of the mobility
08:47 and be able to throw off platform.
08:50 Keaton can do it, but maybe not to the level of the two guys before him.
08:54 And when you look at the spread in this game,
08:57 that's the one thing I was really interested in finding out.
09:00 West Virginia is like a nine and a half, ten point favorite.
09:03 Now I think that's bumped up to 12 and a half points.
09:05 And it's a good plug in by the way.
09:07 This show is brought to you by Bet Online.
09:09 So if you are looking to make a play on this game,
09:12 go and put your play in on Bet Online where the game starts.
09:17 But Casey, I mean, how much of a difference does this make for
09:21 BYU's offense this week in particular?
09:24 I mean, is it something that they've kind of known all week that could be a
09:27 possibility that he could start or is it as late as we found out?
09:30 >> I think BYU has known probably longer than the public.
09:36 Again, as far as I'm aware, he hasn't been able to practice.
09:40 And with BYU traveling out a day earlier than normal,
09:44 they traveled out on Thursday this week.
09:46 I think they had to figure out the guy who's in and who's out a day earlier.
09:53 So I think they've probably known since Monday or
09:56 Tuesday that he probably wasn't gonna be able to go.
09:59 As far as your comments about Keaton in the BYU offense,
10:06 I think it's probably true to a certain extent.
10:08 I think we've seen that BYU's offense probably needs a quarterback.
10:12 It does not need to be even a true dual threat quarterback, but
10:16 it needs to be a quarterback that can at least be more of a threat
10:21 with his legs and be able to extend plays.
10:24 Keaton has not had a lot of help around him this year, frankly.
10:30 BYU's passing attack has been much better than the rushing attack.
10:34 Up until the last two games, BYU's offense has struggled to even gain more than 70 or
10:40 80 yards on the ground.
10:42 Well, they mixed up the lineup along the offensive line and
10:46 things have looked better.
10:47 But still, I think it's probably unfair to say that Keaton has been
10:52 the problem this year.
10:53 It's probably spread across a multitude of areas, but
10:57 we'll see how much of a difference a more mobile quarterback will make.
11:05 BYU's offense desperately needs a spark.
11:08 Against Texas, in their first seven drives, six of the seven lasted only three plays.
11:14 It doesn't matter who you're playing or Texas, give them credit.
11:20 They're a great defense.
11:21 But to be unable to get first downs that many drives in a row is,
11:27 you're just never really in the game.
11:29 And so we'll see if just having a third threat to the offense
11:33 where, Jake, even if you could pick up six yards on a scramble,
11:37 that could make a difference for BYU.
11:41 >> Casey, I think we're off the fairway and onto the green kind of with this,
11:43 because I think we're toward what we suspect might be playing out
11:48 the other cementary issues, but at the same time, they haven't been productive.
11:51 They need a spark.
11:53 I think there's parallels here to, in 2019, West Virginia had a situation,
11:57 Neil Brown's first year, in which we had Austin Kendo as a transfer from Oklahoma
12:01 starting for us.
12:03 We were sluggish offensively, especially down the stretch.
12:06 We had a period in which we had four straight games.
12:08 We hadn't scored more than 17 in a game.
12:11 Well, what we did was we had a transfer in Jarrett Deggie,
12:13 who came in from Bowling Green, and he was showing some flashes in practice.
12:17 But at the same time, they wanted to reserve that red shirt and
12:21 only allow him to play in those four games.
12:22 Well, guess what game he played in?
12:24 The fourth to the last game of the year against Texas Tech,
12:27 he came in late in the game.
12:28 And then he started the final three,
12:30 helping us pull two upsets as double digit underdogs against Kansas State and TCU.
12:35 I hope that part of history doesn't repeat itself.
12:37 But you made another point in your article that I'd like you to talk about here,
12:41 and I thought it was fascinating.
12:43 Is this game set match, are we accepting this as pure fact that this is going to
12:47 happen?
12:47 Because you talked about last year, the BYU Notre Dame game,
12:51 Jaren Hall didn't practice.
12:53 There was a lot of chatter that Jaren Hall wouldn't start.
12:55 The backup was supposed to get his first start.
12:57 Lo and behold, here comes Jaren Hall, making the start despite reports the contrary.
13:03 How certain are we that this is going to happen and
13:06 Keaton Slobus is in fact on the shelf?
13:08 >> I think it's much more certain this year than it was last year.
13:12 That's probably more of a factor that BYU trusts their backup being Jake
13:17 more this year than they did last year.
13:19 There was one game where Jaren Hall injured his ankle and
13:24 was unable to return in a game against Stanford last year.
13:28 And it was pretty clear given BYU's hesitation to bring in the backup
13:35 against Notre Dame when Jaren Hall was clearly injured.
13:39 They decided to trot out the Jaren Hall,
13:42 who was maybe 50% over the backup.
13:47 And when that backup did get an opportunity against Stanford,
13:51 I believe he only attempted one or two passes.
13:53 So I think from BYU's perspective last year, it was Jaren Hall or bust.
13:59 Whereas this year, they truly believe that Jake Retzlaff could be a future starter
14:04 for BYU in the Big 12.
14:05 I would be really surprised just based on the last even 12 hours,
14:13 if Keaton Slobus plays.
14:15 I think you never know, again, because of last year,
14:19 especially with how BYU handles injuries, they're pretty private.
14:23 But I would say it's probably greater than 95% chance at this point that
14:27 Retzlaff gets a start.
14:29 >> So if Keaton doesn't play in this game or isn't dressed for
14:36 this one, who would be that backup to Jake Retzlaff?
14:39 >> The backup, if Slobus is unable to go at all, would be Cade Fennigan.
14:45 He's been in the program, this would be his third year.
14:48 He's originally a Boise State quarterback, transferred to BYU.
14:52 >> Okay.
14:53 >> He's more of a dual threat quarterback where if he were to play,
14:58 BYU would probably call some design quarterback runs.
15:02 But I think the drop off from Jake to Cade is probably
15:06 a lot bigger than the drop off from Keaton to Jake.
15:10 So if that scenario rises where BYU has to play Cade Fennigan,
15:15 then things have probably gone pretty wrong.
15:19 That might impact the way they call the game if in fact Jake gets the start to
15:22 keep him up, right?
15:23 But here's the last thing I would wanna ask.
15:27 Obviously, we wanna get your thoughts on Keaton Slobus' pit pep rally last year.
15:32 I mean, that's been top of mind for West Virginia fans for ten months.
15:37 A lot of fans have suspected, well, I don't blame him.
15:39 I wouldn't wanna play here knowing what he's about to step into with us waiting
15:42 ten months to face that guy who said that.
15:44 But let's talk schematically here.
15:46 When I watch tape on BYU, I haven't necessarily seen Keaton Slobus as a guy
15:51 who hurt them offensively, but I don't know that he's a guy who's helped them
15:55 a lot either.
15:56 In other words, when I look at what they're trying to do from a play selection
16:01 standpoint, it has worked in the past with the Jaron Halls of the world, right?
16:05 But this is the square peg round hole part that Skyler was talking about.
16:10 They're still running a lot of those same concepts, and
16:13 he's just not presented enough of a threat as a runner to keep the defense honest.
16:19 I mean, I so often see backside five technique defensive ends on zone reads
16:23 crashing and making a tackle for loss from the backside because on no level
16:28 do they respect the run fake by Keaton Slobus.
16:31 So even simply inserting Jake into that equation,
16:35 let him keep one or two of those zone reads.
16:37 All of a sudden, that defensive end has to stay home because what you've had to do
16:40 from an offensive standpoint is to keep defenses honest,
16:44 incorporate a lot more jet sweep action to keep those backside defenders honest.
16:49 And I would think, again, just based on what I've seen from Jake on tape at
16:52 the junior college level now, how that jumps into this, I don't know.
16:56 But he's athletic enough to at least make that part of it easier.
17:00 And also the last thing I'd say about Jake, he had production in two years
17:04 at the junior college level, but correct me if I'm wrong, at two different places.
17:07 So that speaks to the ability to parachute onto a campus,
17:11 learn a system in short order, and manage and run that system.
17:15 So from how advanced he might be in BYU's offense, it might speak to that as well.
17:20 So what role does he have, even when he's not running the football,
17:24 to help the BYU running game that has struggled so mightily?
17:27 And how well does he, or how comfortable is he, I should ask, in the system?
17:30 Do you think, just based on what you've heard coming out of practice,
17:33 because the kid hasn't played?
17:36 >> Yeah, it's a very good point, and
17:38 I think what you're seeing on film is probably accurate.
17:41 BYU's offense has been so successful in the past,
17:44 because the play calls have kind of worked sequentially off of each other.
17:49 Play A sets up play B, which sets up play C.
17:52 BYU's passing attack has been really successful in play action situations.
17:58 This year, not so much, because the ground game has not been effective.
18:03 Therefore, it's a lot harder to get any real action from the linebackers or
18:11 the safeties when you're faking handoff, and
18:13 it's not creating as many open passing lanes.
18:17 Jake did play in BYU's spring game.
18:20 Granted, there's a little side story that he missed most of spring camp due to
18:25 a tonsil surgery, but he came back in time for the spring game.
18:29 And sure enough, he did use his legs.
18:32 He kept a couple read options.
18:34 And going back to the point about sequential play calls within BYU's offense,
18:40 if he is able to keep a read option, and that keeps a defensive end honest,
18:45 which sets up, maybe it sets up the run game a little bit better, and
18:49 maybe that sets up the play action pass game a little bit.
18:51 BYU's offense is just needing something to go right to start to be able to build
18:58 off of that and have an identity, and maybe Jake being able to keep a read option.
19:04 And again, maybe if it's third and two, and if he keeps a read option and
19:08 gains a first down, gets four yards, that's an element that BYU just simply
19:13 has not had this year, and that could definitely play a role in tomorrow's game.
19:19 Specifically, I'm thinking in the red zone.
19:22 He ran for a lot of touchdowns at the JUCA level, and
19:25 it's not because he's running 50 yards.
19:28 It's because he's able to use his feet when it matters.
19:32 >> And he can't be out.
19:34 >> Yeah, in terms of his comfortability with the offense,
19:38 I think that is an area where Aaron Roderick at BYU has been pretty successful.
19:44 There's been over four years, I wanna say, I think there's been seven or
19:49 eight starting quarterbacks that BYU has won with.
19:52 They're no stranger to playing a backup quarterback.
19:55 We'll see, BYU's really confident in him being able to plug and
20:02 play and run their same system.
20:04 But ultimately, we'll have to see when the lights come on, if he makes a mistake,
20:10 if they continue to trust him and open up the playbook.
20:14 >> Tyler, the biggest thing I see is this kid presenting a situation where
20:19 defensively, I think all year, teams have kinda had an 11 on 10 advantage when
20:25 BYU's trying to run the football because Slobus wasn't gonna do much in the run game.
20:28 This turns it into more of an 11 on 11 equation.
20:31 >> Yeah, I think you're exactly right.
20:34 And it will be interesting to see if BYU calls read options or
20:39 even design quarterback runs early in the game.
20:41 On his JUCO film, Red Slap was pretty effective in an empty formation,
20:48 doing just a quarterback draw.
20:51 That's something that- >> He ran the speed option too, yeah.
20:54 >> Yeah, yeah, and BYU does incorporate some speed option.
20:58 And in prior years, they've used quarterback draw, specifically in the red
21:02 zone, so we'll see if that comes back into play.
21:06 >> Yeah, it's funny you'd say that, Casey.
21:07 I remember on one game tape, I was watching Slobus ran the speed option.
21:11 And I mean, that defensive end was still five yards away, and
21:15 Slobus said, nope, bump it.
21:17 Said that was it, yeah.
21:18 >> Yeah, yeah, to call that an option is probably generous.
21:22 I think that's just a glorified handoff,
21:25 trying to create some space for the running back.
21:28 But yeah, I don't think he ever had an intention of keeping that football.
21:32 >> Well, Casey, we appreciate you so much for carving out a little bit of your Friday
21:36 to talk some football with us here.
21:38 West Virginia BYU, 7 o'clock on now Fox Sports.
21:42 They moved that because the World Series ended a little early as the Rangers
21:46 voiced their first ever World Series trophy.
21:49 So now West Virginia will be playing on Fox instead of FS1.
21:53 And a final thank you to our friends at Tooth and Ford.
21:55 We all know cars cost less in Grafton and Fortis.
21:59 For a performance and financial certainty guarantee,
22:02 make sure to visit fortis.us.com.
22:05 Again, you can find Casey's stuff at Cougs Daily, a part of Fan Nation on SI.
22:10 For Jet Draining and Casey Lundquist, I'm Skylar Callahan.
22:14 You've been watching In the Gun Podcast.
22:16 And as always, be in here and
22:17 tell in here about your favorite WF football podcast.
22:20 You've been in the gun.
22:22 [MUSIC]