BYU OC Aaron Roderick Never Considered a Quarterback Change Against SMU

Casey Lundquist | Sep 11, 2024

Sep 6, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; Brigham Young Cougars quarterback Jake Retzlaff (12) huddles with his team during the game between the Southern Methodist Mustangs and the Brigham Young Cougars at Gerald J. Ford Stadium. / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

On Wednesday, BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick met with the media for the first time since BYU's 18-15 win over SMU. Roderick was asked about the quarterback situation and whether he ever considered playing Gerry Bohanon after a string of offensive struggles in the middle of the game. Roderick said that was never a consideration against the Mustangs.

"We have trust in Gary, but we didn't think about changing in that game," Roderick said. "We were always in a good position to win. [It] felt like a couple of those mistakes, you know, they were very preventable. We need to protect the ball better for sure, but there was a lot going on. Sometimes it isn't always perfectly, readily obvious to everyone who's watching." The video at the top of this article includes all of Roderick's comments.

"The most important thing is we were still in a good position to win the game," Roderick reiterated. "No one has a license to just make mistakes in any position indefinitely, but we were always in a good position to win the game. He did make a lot of good plays in the game as well and there are some things in that game that were outstanding. But yeah, I mean, I'll just say no one has a license to just play poorly forever, but he did a lot of good things as well."

After BYU starting running back LJ Martin left the game with an injury late in the first quarter, BYU's offense stalled. BYU failed to get a first down on the four drives following Martin's injury:

1. 3 plays, -12 yards - Punt
2. 3 plays, 6 yards - Punt
3. 3 plays, 4 yards - Punt
4. 4 plays, 7 yards - Turnover on Downs

BYU finally got something going on the final drive of the first half, but a missed field goal sent BYU to the halftime locker room with only 7 points.

On the first drive of the second half, Retzlaff had his second turnover of the game: an interception as he was being sacked. Instead of taking the sack, Retzlaff tried to force one out into the flat. His plan backfired when a second defender hit him as he threw, and the ball popped into the air and into the hands of an SMU player.

If there was ever an opportunity to make a quarterback change in that game, it would have been after that interception. Instead, BYU stuck with Jake Retzlaff. Gerry Bohanon was never asked to start getting ready on the sideline.

There was another interception in the fourth quarter, but Roderick chalked that one up to some bad luck. "The third [turnover] was just an unbelievably bad luck play for us. Lucky play for them. I mean, the guy made a good play but you can live with one of those once in a while. But the first two [turnovers] were very preventable and we need to definitely just eat it and play the next down."

On that play, SMU defensive lineman Jared Harrison was knocked to the ground. He got up off the ground right as BYU was running a screen pass. The pass hit Harrison in the chest and he took it back inside the BYU five yard-line.

To Roderick's credit, his decision to stick with Jake Retzlaff paid off on the last drive of the game when Retzlaff led BYU down the field for the go-ahead field goal.

Heading into Wyoming, ball security is a top priority for the BYU quarterback. "Just learn from everything that happened and then come out better the next week," Retzlaff said on his approach coming off a three turnover game at SMU. "And that's kind of what I've been doing all week this week and what we're going to do next on Saturday...[preventing turnovers] is definitely something that we're emphasizing this week just all around."