BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff (12) calls out to his teammates as backup QB McCae Hillstead prepares to take a snap during the opening day of spring camp held at the Zions Bank Practice Fields in Provo on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News
Although he accumulated various bumps and bruises, and was clearly not himself in the 17-13 loss to Kansas, Jake Retzlaff managed to start in all 13 of BYU’s games last season, leading the Cougars to a better-than-expected 11-2 record.
It was one of those rare situations in which a BYU quarterback remained relatively healthy an entire season. So what happens this year if the Cougars’ unquestioned starting quarterback suffers a setback like all of his most immediate predecessors — Kedon Slovis, Jaren Hall and Zach Wilson — did at one point or another in their BYU careers?
The answer to that question is to be determined, and is playing itself out, in BYU’s spring football camp, which began last week and will see its fourth of 15 scheduled practices on Friday.
Retzlaff’s backup in 2025 will be either Utah State transfer McCae Hillstead or Western Michigan transfer Treyson Bourguet, offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick has said. A fourth QB, Bountiful High’s Emerson Geilman, will join the program this summer.
Is there a deadline to name a QB2?
Roderick said if the backup QB derby “resolves itself by the end of spring, that would be great, but if it doesn’t then we will take it into fall camp if we have to.”
Is there a front-runner at his point in the race?
Roderick said on Monday that there isn’t, although Hillstead seemed to look crisper in the media viewing portion of practice (about a half hour) on Monday. That, of course, is a very, very small sample size.
What is evident is that they both have starting experience at the Division I level — Hillstead…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/article/meet-quarterbacks-running-jake-retzlaff-220000759.html
Author : Deseret News
Publish date : 2025-03-07 22:00:00
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