Jake Retzlaff preps for Ole Miss, reflects on BYU

Long before BYU knew it was out of the College Football Playoff, Jake Retzlaff was already in. As a result of Tulane’s 34-21 victory over North Texas on Dec. 5 in the American Conference championship game, the Green Wave, led by the former Cougar quarterback, clinched a spot in college football’s ultimate contest.

Retzlaff and No. 11 Tulane play at No. 6 Ole Miss on Saturday (1:30 p.m., TNT) in a rematch of their Sept. 20 game that didn’t go so well for the Green Wave. The Rebels limited Retzlaff to 56 yards passing and 51 yards rushing in a 45-10 victory.

Advertisement

“I’m excited. It’s going to be a great opportunity, especially considering we didn’t even get off the plane when we played those guys the first time,” Retzlaff said. “This is a chance to make a statement on a national spotlight.”

Last summer, Retzlaff was in the national spotlight for a different reason. A woman filed a civil lawsuit accusing the quarterback of sexual assault. The case was dismissed but a looming multiple-game suspension related to BYU’s honor code led Retzlaff to look elsewhere for his senior season.

Disappointed, but determined, Retzlaff quietly slipped out of town.

“I’ve had some really good guidance over my career — people telling me to go out the right way and stay connected to so many people that are important to me,” he said. “There are a lot of special people at BYU who are family to me, especially in that locker room.

Advertisement

“I could probably say a lot about how or why I left, but Cougar Nation has been so great to me. I don’t feel the need to tear anyone else down. There are too many guys I care about there to say anything bad about that program.”

Jake’s detour

As Retzlaff drove away from the BYU campus last summer, his mind was full of questions. The place he had grown to love was in his rear-view mirror with an open road of uncertainty in front of him.

“I knew that wherever I went, if there was an opportunity to play, that I’d have a chance to succeed,” he said. “When I found out it was Tulane, I knew we had a great chance to be that G5 team to break into the playoff.”

Advertisement

With no guarantee of playing time, Retzlaff had to win the starting job during fall camp and win over the team while he was doing it. As for getting the playbook down, for that he relied on his BYU experience.

“I learned a lot about football from A-Rod (Aaron Roderick), Matt Mitchell, Fesi (Sitake), Harvey (Unga), TJ Woods. I learned a lot from those guys,” Retzlaff said of his former staff at BYU. “So, a lot of it was just translating the verbiage. I had already done a lot of these things before.”

That includes winning.

After being named Tulane’s starter, Retzlaff led the Green Wave to victories against Northwestern (23-3), South Alabama (33-31) and eventual ACC champion Duke (34-27) before running into Ole Miss. He followed the loss with another trio of wins against Tulsa (31-14), East Carolina (26-19) and Army (24-17).

Advertisement

“This team came together like glue throughout the season,” Retzlaff said. “Truthfully, I didn’t know how it would go with me being so new and trying to get to know the guys. We have grown a lot.”

Flying high at 6-1 and just outside the top 25, Tulane took a road trip to face UTSA on Oct. 30 in San Antonio. Retzlaff knew he missed BYU, but he didn’t realize how much until Tulane’s team bus pulled up to the Alamodome.

Emotional return

Due to his untimely departure, Retzlaff never had a “last game” experience at LaVell Edwards Stadium. There was no senior walk or final hurrah in front of the home fans. But he did have the Alamo Bowl.

“The emotions that came to me when I walked into that building were the exact same feelings I had when I walked in with BYU,” he said. “I went over to the locker where I had sat at — it was surreal.”

Advertisement

In what had to seem like only days before, Retzlaff’s mind raced back to Dec. 28 when his underdog Cougars lit up No. 23 Colorado 36-14. Not only did the victory push BYU (11-2) up to No. 13 in the final AP Top 25, but an Alamo Bowl record 7,996,679 television viewers watched them do it.

The win catapulted the Cougars into an optimistic offseason and spring practice, fused by the kind of momentum that fuels a contender for the following year. But it wasn’t to be. At least not in the way Retzlaff had thought — and certainly not in a green and white uniform.

“It was an emotional experience going back to the Alamo Bowl. It just goes to show how I feel about my time at BYU,” he said. “I’m so grateful for my experience and it’s something nobody can take away from me.”

Bleeds blue

UTSA hammered Tulane 48-26. Retzlaff and the Green Wave responded by winning the next five games to crack into the top 25 and reach the program’s first College Football Playoff. Throughout all of it, he has kept a close eye on his former team.

Advertisement

“They have been so fun to watch. Every time they were on, I was glued to the television,” he said. “Boy, has that little kid, LJ Martin, grown up and become something.”

Martin rushed for 1,305 yards and 12 touchdowns during BYU’s 11-2 regular season and was named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year.

“One of our first interactions on the field was during a player-run-practice before our first seasons,” Retzlaff said. “I was getting mad at him because he screwed up a play. It is literally his first day on the field, but that never changed our relationship.”

With Retzlaff’s departure, BYU turned the offense over to true freshman Bear Bachmeier who earned the Big 12’s Freshman Offensive Player of the Year.

Advertisement

“Me and Bear have a good relationship,” Retzlaff said. “I texted him once or twice during the season.”

Just as Retzlaff transformed Tulane, Bachmeier led the Cougars to the program’s first Big 12 championship game and a date in the Pop-Tarts Bowl against No. 22 Georgia Tech on Dec. 27 (1:30 p.m., ABC).

Winning ways

Retzlaff’s 2025 stats at Tulane are comparable to what he did last season at BYU. He threw for 2,947 yards and 20 touchdowns for the Cougars, and he is up to 2,862 yards passing and 14 touchdowns for the Green Wave. Retzlaff reduced his interceptions from 12 to 6 and increased his touchdown runs from 6 to 16.

Advertisement

“The biggest and hardest thing was getting that chemistry with the guys,” he said. “I’ve run the ball super effectively this year and learning to command a new offense has been fun.”

Most of all, Retzlaff continues to win. Over the last two seasons at BYU and Tulane, he is 22-4 as a starter with a win in a bowl game and an upcoming date in the playoffs.

“Doing it as a team. That might be a boring answer, but that’s the truthful answer,” said Retzlaff about his successes. “I’ve also been lucky. I’ve had some great defensive teams to play with, some great coordinators and coaches. The way it works is the team has to come together as one with no one out there being selfish.”

Good days

These are good days for Retzlaff. After winning the American Championship, ABC cameras followed him parading around Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in New Orleans as if he had been riding the Green Wave his entire life.

Advertisement

Along the way, Retzlaff stopped and pulled a young lady from the stands — his longtime girlfriend Jaelynn Lambert, a senior on the BYU softball team. She has been there for him through his wild ride and this spring, Retzlaff vows to be back at Gail Miller Field — for her.

Also noticeable on championship night was his mustache.

“I decided to give it a shot, why not? It’s been working for me,” he joked. “I added it in the middle of the season. It was a process to get it to where it is now.”

The same can be said for Retzlaff himself. It has been a process to get to where he is now. He’s been up, down and in between — and always imperfect. Humbled by his mistakes and motivated by redemption, Retzlaff remains a BYU story even as he marches Tulane into the College Football Playoff.

Dave McCann is a sportswriter and columnist for the Deseret News and is a play-by-play announcer and show host for BYUtv/ESPN+. He co-hosts “Y’s Guys” at ysguys.com and is the author of the children’s book “C is for Cougar,” available at deseretbook.com.