Six Takeaways from BYU's Dominant Win over Wyoming

Joe Wheat | Sep 15, 2024

BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff against Wyoming / BYU Photo

BYU improved to 3-0 on the season after a dominant 34-14 win over Wyoming on Saturday night. BYU is just one win shy of matching their preseason Vegas win total, but still questions remain on how good this BYU team is. Of course, BYU started 3-0 last season too before ultimately falling to 5-7. Will this year be different? Does BYU need to make a change at quarterback? Is the defensive dominance fools gold? Lets talk about it. Here are six things I learned from BYU’s win in Laramie.

1. The Jake Retzlaff hate is a little out of control

Lets start with some repentance. At halftime, I posted the following on X: “That’s as unimpressed I’ve ever been with a 200-yard 2 TD first half. Every position on the offense is playing well but one right now.” That’s ridiculous thing to say and I thought I was right until I heard the CBS half time crew say something surprising. When asked what BYU needed to do in the second half, the response was something along the lines of, “Keep doing what they are doing. Jake Retzlaff is controlling the game right now” and statistically speaking they were right.

Up until his removal, Retzlaff had accounted for 353 of BYU’s 401 offensive yards (88%) and all 3 of their touchdowns. Listening to an unbiased broadcast making Retzlaff the player of the game while BYU fans were calling for his benching made me consider that perhaps we are a little too close to the Retzlaff situation. A little too scarred by the horrific turnovers of a year ago. But if we are to evaluate Retzlaff purely on the merits of this season, he has been more productive than we ever hoped.

Perhaps you have thought something along the lines of “Retzlaff is not a P4 quarterback” or “Could putting in Bohanon be worse than what we are getting right now?” The answer to the first statement depends on what you mean by “P4 quarterback.” Will Retzlaff take BYU to a Big 12 title? Probably not. But let’s look at it in terms of production. Through 3 games, Jake Retzlaff is 19th in passing yards nationally, 18th in passing touchdowns, and 28th in average depth of target. There are 11 P4 quarterbacks with as many or more turnover-worthy plays as Retzlaff has had through 3 games according to PFF, while Retzlaff leads the nation with 11 “Big-Time Throws.” Disagree with them all you want, but that is simply what the numbers say. That is P4 level production even while considering turnover-worthy plays. (Before you give me the opponent argument, pretty much every P5 QB has played an FCS, G5, and P5 game).

BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff against Wyoming / BYU Photo

The answer to the second question is yes, it could get worse. For the record, I would have benched Retzlaff at halftime of the SMU game, but BYU simply cannot do it now. Benching a quarterback after a 300-yard 3 TD game because he might lose BYU a game in the future is a horrible precedent to set. Plus, BYU would lose too much upside. I was very vocal about thinking Bohanon should be BYU’s week one starter, but that was when I wasn’t sure that Retzlaff was an FBS level player.

Maybe Bohanon would be more careful with the ball, but he also wouldn’t be nearly as explosive. Retzlaff has been credited with 11 big-time throws in 3 games according to PFF. Bohanon has never had more than 10 in an entire season. Bohanon’s best season as a starter featured 180 yards per game, 63% completion, 8 yards per attempt, 1.5 TDs and .6 INTs per game. At worst, you get USF Bohanon who threw for 150 yards per game and a 1/1 TD to INT ratio. Both versions are a step down from 2024 Retzlaff, turnover prone as he is.

In summary, I think Retzlaff is a serviceable P4 quarterback when compared with his peers, and that was everything we hoped for preseason. That’s not a blue-goggled take. If I wasn’t a BYU fan, I would consider Retzlaff to be one of the most exciting quarterbacks in the country. As a BYU fan though, watching a Jake Retzlaff drop back could be considered psychological warfare.  The truth is somewhere in the middle. Maybe he lays an egg against Kansas State and I wrote 500 words for nothing, but through three weeks, he is the best that BYU has, and it could be a heck of a lot worse.

2. Good things happen when you throw Chase Roberts the ball

BYU Photo

Chase Roberts is quietly looking like an NFL receiver. Roberts has the 13th best PFF receiving grade in the country with a minimum of 7 targets. Retzlaff completes 75% of hit targets to Roberts with an average depth of target of 14.6 yards. Only 6 receivers nationally have a higher completion percentage when targeted with a deeper average depth of target. Roberts is also 4/5 on contested catch opportunities this season. Somehow, the only thing he hasn’t done is find the endzone. In layman’s terms, Chase Roberts is really good at football and should be targeted as much as possible.

3. The offense wont reach it’s full potential until Retzlaff, Hill, and Lassiter get on the same page

BYU Photo

As good as Retzlaff’s numbers have been, he has not been in sync with 2 of his 3 most talented pass catchers. Retzlaff is a combined 10/28 when targeting Keanu Hill and Darius Lassiter this season while completing 70% of his passes to everyone else. I don’t know exactly what the disconnect is between Retzlaff and these two receivers is, but hopefully getting both of them into the endzone against Wyoming gets things going in the right direction.

4. This is the best BYU defense since 2012

BYU Photo

This is an incredibly bold proclamation three games into the season, but the numbers are trending that direction. BYU has held all 3 of its opponents to 261 total yards or less this season. According to CougarStats, the last time a BYU defense held 3 straight opponents under 261 yards was when BYU did it 5 straight weeks in 2012. To further solidify the point, BYU has held all 3 opponents to less than an 80 pass efficiency rating. According to Cougarstats, no BYU team since 2001 has ever done that in consecutive games, let alone 3 consecutive games. Wyoming’s offense is truly terrible, but SMU’s isn’t, and if BYU can sustain this level of play, BYU will have a chance to win every game they play.

BYU has held all 3 opponents to 261 yards or fewer this year.

The last time BYU held opponents to no more than 261 yards in at least 3 consecutive games was a 5 game stretch in 2012.

Wazzu - 224
Utah - 245
Boise St. - 261
Hawaii - 149
USU - 243

The 2012 defense finished 3rd…

— CougarStats (@CougarStats) September 15, 2024

5. Pokai Haunga might be the answer at running back

Haunga only had 5 carries on the night, but he made more of them than any other BYU running back on Saturday. The true freshman averaged 7 yards per carry and, most importantly, 4 yards after contact. Haunga didn’t have a single negative rush on the night and proved to be a solid potential pairing for when LJ Martin returns from injury.

6. This 3-0 is different than last year's 3-0

BYU Photo

BYU fans are likely hesitant to celebrate BYU’s 3-0 record too much after what happened to BYU’s 3-0 record last season. In context though, this year is completely different. BYU was outgained by 23 yards in their 3 opening wins last season. This season, BYU has outgained their opponents by 617 yards and is averaging more than 1.3 yards per play. BYU’s 6.4 yards per play this season would have ranked 13th nationally last season if sustained over a full 12 game schedule. That likely won’t be sustained as the schedule toughens up, but this is a better BYU football team than last season. How many wins that will translate to remains to be seen, but through 3 weeks, BYU looks like a a solid P4 team, and in year 2, that is something to celebrate.