9 Takeaways From BYU Footballs Decisive Win Over Southern Illinois

BYU did on Saturday night what, apparently, no one in the Las Vegas desert thought they could: dominate SIU by 28 points. BYU’s retribution over the Salukis was a swift and sure 41-13 win that, honestly, wasn’t as close as the score indicated. Some say you can’t learn anything from a win over an FCS opponent but that wont stop us from trying. With that said, here are nine things we learned from BYU’s 1-0 start.  

1. Jay Hill: Football Coach

If you are reading this, odds are you have called in sick for something much less than a heart attack. Some spent most of Friday night fearing Coach Hill’s life was in jeopardy only for him to have a headset on in the BYU press box the following night. That kind of dedication to BYU football is enough to make you want to run through a brick wall.

2. Its time to give Jake Retzlaff a fresh start

Go with me on a hypothetical journey. Imagine a world where Kedon Slovis never gets hurt and yesterday was Jake Retzlaff’s first start at BYU. Imagine a world where all you knew about him was that he was the no. 1 junior college quarterback in his class and had a full year to grow into a P4 starting quarterback. Now imagine that Jake Retzlaff put up the exact same stat line in his first start: 66.7% completion percentage, 348 yards, 12 yards per attempt,  3 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions. What would your impressions of him be if that’s all you knew?

An abysmal 2023 aside, Jake Retzlaff was awesome last night. Yes it was an FCS opponent, but plenty of other quarterbacks played FCS teams this week and didn’t play as well as Jake. Retzlaff’s 89.0 PFF grade ranked 16th nationally and 3rd in the BIG12 through week 1 behind only Shadeur Sanders and Noah Fifita. His completion percentage adjusted for drops was 73.3% with an average depth of target (ADOT) of 13.5 yards. The last two instances of a BYU quarterback throwing for a better adjusted completion percentage on a deeper ADOT was Jaren Hall against Utah Tech in 2022 and Zach Wilson vs North Alabama in 2020.

The film is just as impressive as the stats. Jake showed why he won the starting job with throws like the one above. Watch it. If you are not impressed, watch it again. This ball travelled over 60 yards in the air and right into Jojo Phillips chest for a touchdown. Even the camera man was evidently shocked that ball traveled that far. There is only one quarterback in the state, let alone the BYU roster, that can make that throw, and he made it twice on Saturday.

There were misses to be sure, but second viewing, those misses had more to do with receiver timing (50% of the fall camp reps will do that) and the degree of difficulty of throws rather than the mechanical issues and poor decision making that plagued him a year ago. Most importantly, Retzlaff had zero turnover-worthy plays and made every layup in yesterday’s game, going 4/4 on throws behind the line of scrimmage. It’s certainly not time to crown Jake as the next great BYU quarterback, but coming into the game, BYU fans weren’t sure if Jake Retzlaff was capable of being an FBS level player. At a minimum, his performance put those questions to bed. Time will tell if this was a one-hit wonder or if Retzlaff is a legitimate P4 quarterback, but yesterday was good enough to earn Jake a second chance at a first impression.   

3. Chase Roberts is WR1

Chase Roberts message to his Quarterback was evident in his play: “I am available whenever you need me.” Roberts had 7 catches on 8 targets and was 2/2 on contested catch opportunities. All 7 catches went for first downs including two crucial 4th down conversions. The eye test showed Roberts being a big-bodied receiver with sure hands, improved speed and elusiveness to be a true WR1 in the Big12 conference.

4. BYU’s corners are very young

Jakob Robinson did Jakob Robinson things last night. He was targeted just once in 20 attempts, and that one attempt resulted in an interception. The stat sheet looked good for the rest of the BYU secondary, but the film showed plenty of youth . I counted at least three different times an SIU wide receiver got behind the BYU corner group, even if the passes fell incomplete. That makes sense. Evan Johnson, Therrian Alexander, Jonathon Kabeya and Marque Collins were all playing their first meaningful snaps at the FBS level, but the next 11 games will feature quarterbacks that can expose a young secondary if they don’t grow up quick.

5. BYU’s front seven looked stout for week one

BYU was gashed by SIU quarterback DJ Williams’ scrambling ability, but allowed just 2 yards rushing to everyone else on 10 carries. Defensive tackles Blake Mangelson and John Nelson were the stars of the show, accounting for 4 of BYU’s 10 total pressures. That’s a positive sign for a BYU team that has gotten little, if any, meaningful production from the interior defensive line since Khyris Tonga. Isaiah Bagnah and Ephraim Asiata both showed enough flashes opposite Tyler Batty to inspire confidence in the defensive line’s progress this offseason.

The linebackers were stellar all night long, while all 19 “stops” (a play that constitutes a failure for the offense) were forced by the linebackers and defensive line. BYU forced a punt or turnover on 9 of 11 SIU possessions, allowing an average of just 3.8 plays on those 9 drives, largely due to the pressure applied by the BYU front seven.

6. You can catch a football, side step a defender, switch the ball to the opposite hand, and fumble without ever possessing the football

Who knew?

7. There seems to be a drop-off between LJ Matin and the rest of the running backs

The coaching staff was clearly trying to limit LJ Martin’s reps as he recovers from an offseason shoulder injury, but at a certain point, they couldn’t keep him off the field. Martin averaged a near yard more per carry then BYU’s three other running backs and seemed to have the combination of vision, elusiveness and power that made Tyler Allgeier a BYU legend. If he can stay healthy, BYU’s run game will be better. But at 3.8 yards per carry as a team, BYU’s ground game didn’t show enough last night to warrant a ton of optimism without him.

8. The offensive line has improved from last year

The offensive line had a really strong showing. SIU blitzed on 16 of 35 dropbacks, but managed only 7 pressures and on the night. For reference, against SUU last season, SUU generated 10 pressures on 32 drop backs, despite blitzing only 8 times. No single lineman allowed more than 2 pressures according to PFF, while 5 of the top 6 lineman posted a grade of 74.6 or higher. Perhaps most notably, left tackle Caleb Etienne graded out as the third best offensive player last night, behind only Jake Retzlaff and Chase Roberts. Improvement indeed.

9. BYU football’s trajectory is pointed up

BYU did what what P4 teams should do to FCS teams, and that is a massive improvement over where they were a year ago. BYU’s last game versus an FCS opponent featured a nearly identical score with a completely opposite feel. In 2023, BYU outgained SUU by just 48 yards and managed 46 rushing yards on 2 yards per carry. Fast forward one year, and BYU dominated a significantly better FCS team in every facet of the game. BYU outgained SIU by 296 yards, more yards than BYU gained in 7 of their 12 games in 2023. They eclipsed the 400 yard mark for the first time in 644 days and held an opposing offense to under 235 yards for only the second time in the last four seasons.

Does any of this mean BYU will imminently compete for a Big12 title? No. But there is no shame in finding satisfaction in the idea that for the first time in nearly 2 years, BYU looked like a competent, complete football team.