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Greetings from “Can’t Wait For Saturday,” your morning morsel of college football, courtesy of longtime Illini beat writer, AP Top 25 voter and Heisman state rep Bob Asmussen. He’ll give you his views each day on the game he loves.
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Here are some of the college football teams that just got a break: Stanford, Colorado, West Virginia, Utah, Iowa State and Texas Tech. They all have BYU on the schedule this season. And instead of facing off against experienced Jake Retzlaff, they will see another quarterback lined up for the Cougars. Perhaps more than one.
Retzlaff was facing a seven-game suspension for a violation of the school’s honor code. But he made it official Friday, announcing his intent to transfer, thanking his BYU teammates and coaches on the way out the door.
It is a blow to the BYU program and a potential windfall for a school in a need of a quarterback. Retzlaff is a talent, albeit it a guy with some question marks. Mainly, he threw too many interceptions (12) and not enough TDs (20). But there are at least a dozen teams where Retzlaff would be an upgrade. Maybe more.
The practical side is that it is getting late. Wherever he goes, he will have to dive in with both feet.
He won at a high level last season, winning 11 games. He can do it again.
Will the decisions hurt BYU long term? Or Retzlaff? Too soon to tell. At the end of the year college football observers will evaluate what happened to the player and the school.
There are options in Provo, but none as promising as the return of the starter.
Stay tuned.
Bob Asmussen is a college…
Source link : https://www.news-gazette.com/opinion/cant-wait-for-saturday-somebody-is-about-to-land-a-talented-quarterback-but-who/article_5928057d-21f8-41f8-b5b9-b1d7efa16fc4.html
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Publish date : 2025-07-12 14:49:00
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