College GameDay Crew Picks No. 14 BYU vs Arizona

Casey Lundquist | 3 Hours Ago

BYU Fall Camp / BYU Photo

On Saturday morning, Big Noon Kickoff was live from Provo to feature no. 14 BYU vs Arizona. Meanwhile, the College GameDay crew picked BYU-Arizona. Excluding the celebrity guest picker, the rest of the crew picked BYU to win.

Desmond Howard: BYU

"I'm picking BYU because of their defense."

Nick Saban: BYU

"I'm picking BYU because I think it's a tough place to play. They play well at home and I think Arizona will have a tough time overcoming that."

Kaitlin Olson (guest picker): Arizona

"I feel responsible for supporting the defunct Pac-12. So I'm gonna go ahead and go Arizona."

Pat McAfee: BYU

"I'll take BYU. I like BYU, especially with the whole situation going on with the quarterback and the day and the religion and everything like that."

McAfee was referring to a segment from earlier in the show where BYU QB Jake Retzlaff was featured. More on that in a moment.

Kirk Herbstreit: BYU

"Cougs at home. Can't go against them. Too physical."

Jake Retzlaff Featured by College GameDay

“I just can’t wait for the game because it’s going to be a special day that there’s a Jewish kid playing football on Yom Kippur. … If that makes headlines, that means I get to be another light for somebody else.”

BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff is breaking barriers 🤝 pic.twitter.com/Knfzwc5TJg

— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) October 12, 2024

Retzlaff is the only starting quarterback in major college football of the Jewish faith. The segment centered around Retzlaff's faith at a religious university like BYU, and his decision to play football on a Jewish holiday that is typically celebrated through fasting and rest.