Cougs Daily

The BYU Quarterback Battle will Extend Into Game Prep for Southern Illinois

BYU declined to name a starting quarterback on the last

Casey Lundquist

BYU quarterbacks Gerry Bohanon and Jake Retzlaff during the first week of Fall camp
BYU quarterbacks Gerry Bohanon and Jake Retzlaff during the first week of Fall camp / BYU Photo
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PROVO, UT - On the final day of Fall camp media observation, BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick declined to name a starting quarterback. As BYU closes the book on Fall camp and begins to prepare for Southern Illinois, the battle between Jake Retzlaff and Gerry Bohanon will continue.

"I was hopeful [the starter] would be more clear than it is by now," Roderick told the media. "I think it's been a matter of both of them playing well and not that neither one of them has seized the day. We'll keep working our way through it a little longer."

Roderick's message has been the same since the start of camp: he is not in a rush. He will wait until the decision becomes clear before announcing a starter.

If Monday's media observation was any indication, there is merit to what Roderick is saying. Both quarterbacks played very well. Jake Retzlaff and Gerry Bohanon took the field for redzone team drills. Both quarterbacks got two drives apiece and boths quarterback led two touchdown drives.

The first drive was led by Gerry Bohanon. After a run by Hinckley Ropati on first down, Bohanon found Darius Lassiter on a slant for a first down to put BYU around the 10 yard-line. A few plays later, Bohanon scrambled to his right to buy some time before finding tight end Keanu Hill in the endzone for the score.

The next drive was led by Jake Retzlaff and it didn't take long to find paydirt. On the first play of the drive, Retzlaff found Parker Kingston for a touchdown. Kingston was covered by Tre Alexander - Retzlaff threw a perfectly-placed back shoulder fade for the score from 20 yards out.

Retzlaff started the next drive - this time starting from the 10 yard-line. After a Hinckley Ropati run, Retzlaff threw a perfectly-placed ball to Kody Epps on a fade route. Epps created some separation against Jakob Robinson and hauled it in for the score.

The last drive led by Gerry Bohanon was a one-play score. Bohanon hit Pokaiaua Haunga on a swing route and Haunga did the rest, finding a seam and scoring a touchdown.

If BYU is going to name a starter before Southern Illinois, it would likely be on the Monday before the game during the weekly press briefing. If they decline to name a starter at that time as well, it could materialize into a situation where BYU declines to name a starter until gametime.

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Casey Lundquist
CASEY LUNDQUIST

Casey Lundquist is the publisher and lead editor of Cougs Daily. He has covered BYU athletics for the last four years. During that time, he has published over 2,000 stories that have reached more than three million people.

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