2024 BYU Football - Year 2 in the Big 12

[PaloAltoCougar]

What a fun season... So many great moments and exciting finishes. A head coach who generates a lot of energy within the team and with those around him, and has the respect and affection of his peers. No significant scandals or embarrassments. A fun storyline with our Hebrew signal caller who loves BYU. A few great plays that will stay in memory forever (the Kingston punt return, Lassiter for the win against OSU, etc). A season record that greatly surpassed any sane person's expectations. Sure, "what might have been?", but every team except one can ask that every year. At my advanced age, I try not to waste time thinking ruefully, preferring instead to focus on all the great things I currently enjoy or look forward to. The football team is one of those.

[YOhio]

I guess I still think that BYU is going to win all their games unless the refs/opponents cheat and they'll be #1 forever at least in my heart they will.

This was the closest I’ve been to a SU-wish.

[Omaha 680]

I'll admit I feel more bummed than I should by how this season ended. By any pre season measure, this was an absolute banger of a year. Kalani's post game interview on KSL indicates that everyone is extremely bummed, even the coaches.

BYU overperformed given their talent and offensive coaching. The stars aligned with their schedule and they still couldn't cash in on it. I'm not stoked on ARod. He is an OK OC but is predictable. But better play at QB and RB and BYU is undefeated. ASU is in the championship game because they have an extraordinary RB. They are a good ish team without him. BYU doesn't have a single extraordinary player. Championship teams need one. Given all of that a 10 win season is amazing. I hope sometime soon I can look back and recognize it.

It hurts because we are realists and recognize we won't be in the mix every year. I hope not, but it might be a long time before we challenge for a CCG berth again. When that sting wears off I'll be able to appreciate this season as an overwhelming success. The hate Kalani and his staff get in the game threads is not warranted. There are some very frustrating things about this staff that I am vocal about, primarily clock/timeout management and the inability to find a tight end. But you can't hate on the bad and dismiss all the good. We had some bounces go our way this year for sure, but also some that REALLY went the other way like the KU quick kick off the helmet. That one alone was a cosmic balancing event and I think our luck ended up being about average over the season. So I can't deny Kalani credit for building what he accomplished this season. I am hoping he somehow retains Jay Hill, continues to build the culture that I am enjoying so much, learns to clean up the stuff I hate, and picks up some talent in the portal at our biggest needs. Honestly apart from DL I am not super worried about turnover. A killer RB pickup would be nice, but I am one that thinks that LJ can be serviceable if we are getting the right mix of play calls.

[BigPiney]

Retzlaff is average to below average but is an above average running qb. With a good QB this team could have been great. His completion is 58%. Not good.

[Omaha 680]

Retzlaff is average to below average but is an above average running qb. With a good QB this team could have been great. His completion is 58%. Not good.

I think this is too harsh. He is #52 in pass efficiency and #58 in QBR. That is by definition an average passer. You add in his running ability and he is clearly an above average QB overall. I saw great improvement from his first five starts last year to the season he put together this year. He had some amazing moments this year but also too many head scratchers. I am hopeful the choice in going with Retzlaff this season instead of another senior transfer will result in another big step up this offseason and a senior campaign where he puts it all together.

I still think he can be very good. 2:1 TD:INT ratio and upper 50s in completion percentage from this year for Jake is like John Beck his Soph and Junior year. Jake does need to get above 65% completion percentage to be great. Eliminating the head scratcher interceptions alone would get him to 4:1 TD:INT. I am hopeful.

[Bo Diddley]

I think this is too harsh. He is #52 in pass efficiency and #58 in QBR. That is by definition an average passer. You add in his running ability and he is clearly an above average QB overall. I saw great improvement from his first five starts last year to the season he put together this year. He had some amazing moments this year but also too many head scratchers. I am hopeful the choice in going with Retzlaff this season instead of another senior transfer will result in another big step up this offseason and a senior campaign where he puts it all together.

I still think he can be very good. 2:1 TD:INT ratio and upper 50s in completion percentage from this year for Jake is like John Beck his Soph and Junior year. Jake does need to get above 65% completion percentage to be great. Eliminating the head scratcher interceptions alone would get him to 4:1 TD:INT. I am hopeful.

There were a lot of passes dropped that should have been caught.

[BigFatMeanie]

There were a lot of passes dropped that should have been caught.

True.

Also true that Jake tends to struggle with passes that require "touch", which may contribute to drop rate.

He also gets an inordinately large number of passes batted at the line of scrimmage. I haven't actually kept track and done all the math to know how his batted-down rate compares to other QBs (would be great if some stats nerd figured all this out), but it certainly feels like it's really high. Assuming the batted rate is higher than average, I'm not smart enough at football to really understand why this is; however, my uneducated-fan assumption is it has something to do with a combination of his a) sometimes-almost-sidearm mechanics, and b) tendency to stare down targets.

[Shaka]

I think BYU needs to find someone to compete with Retzlaff. I love the guy but he didn't play well enough for there not to be a QB competition.

[Jeff Lebowski]

This was the closest I’ve been to a SU-wish.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Yeah, we will always think "what if" but if we are being honest, we were lucky to win a few games too. Things even out.

[Omaha 680]

Yeah, we will always think "what if" but if we are being honest, we were lucky to win a few games too. Things even out.

Yes it all evened out in my opinion. We had a streak of really fortunate events then some unfortunate ones. Add to the unfortunate list the inability of the officiating crew in the KSU/ISU game to recognize a clear forward pass on the first play from scrimmage or an eligible receiver within 5 yards of where Johnson's pass from the end zone fell which should have prevented the safety.

[Bo Diddley]

Yeah, we will always think "what if" but if we are being honest, we were lucky to win a few games too. Things even out.

Absolutely. Even going back to last season, we could easily have had a much better record.

But if you look at how the team trended, they definitely played better the first half of the season. Not sure exactly why that is.

I will look back fondly on the 2024 season. Had a lot of fun.

[myboynoah]

Yeah, we will always think "what if" but if we are being honest, we were lucky to win a few games too. Things even out.

This. It was a fun year; much better than I could have ever expected. Wished we could have pulled it out and made it to the CCG, but those four minutes before and after halftime against KSU were sublime. And beating the pukes in SLC in the way we did it, even more sublimer.

Let's keep Hill and build on this going forward.

[YOhio]

And beating the pukes in SLC in the way we did it, even more sublimer.

Yes but just once or twice I'd really like this game to be a bit less stressful.

[LiveCoug]

I think this is too harsh. He is #52 in pass efficiency and #58 in QBR. That is by definition an average passer. You add in his running ability and he is clearly an above average QB overall. I saw great improvement from his first five starts last year to the season he put together this year. He had some amazing moments this year but also too many head scratchers. I am hopeful the choice in going with Retzlaff this season instead of another senior transfer will result in another big step up this offseason and a senior campaign where he puts it all together.

I still think he can be very good. 2:1 TD:INT ratio and upper 50s in completion percentage from this year for Jake is like John Beck his Soph and Junior year. Jake does need to get above 65% completion percentage to be great. Eliminating the head scratcher interceptions alone would get him to 4:1 TD:INT. I am hopeful.

Through the UCF game, he was def above average. The last four games? Regression. And that's not good.

First 8 games he was 18 TDs, 7 Int, and 143 QB rating and 4.8 YPC for 3 TDs. Last 4 games he was 54% passing for 2 TDs, 3 Int, 120 QB Rating, and 2.8 YPC for 3 TDs. That is... not good.