The biggest question surrounding BYU football has finally been answered.
Jake Retzlaff will start at quarterback for the Cougars in their season opener against Southern Illinois , head coach Kalani Sitake announced Saturday on BYU Radio .
Retzlaff, a redshirt junior entering his second year in Provo, beat out veteran transfer Gerry Bohanon for the starting job in a highly publicized fall camp competition.
Retzlaff started the final four games of BYU's 2023 campaign, throwing for 648 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions while completing 50.4% of his passes and rushing for another three scores as well.
The Cougars went 0-4 in his starts, losing to West Virginia and Iowa State by at least 30 points each before falling to Oklahoma and Oklahoma State in a pair of single possession heartbreakers.
Prior to arriving at BYU in January of 2023, Retzlaff was considered one of the nation's top junior college quarterback recruits. He passed for 4,596 yards and 44 touchdowns at Riverside City College in 2022 and chose the Cougars over competing offers from Hawaii , UTEP and other Division-I programs.
BYU and Southern Illinois will kick off Saturday at 6 p.m. MST in Provo.
BYU Cougars quarterback Jake Retzlaff (12) runs the ball during the game against the Iowa State Cyclones at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023. | Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
