TROUBLE IN PARADISE: RETZLAFF'S MOVE FROM MOUNTAINS TO MARSHES
Matti Tenney - September 15, 2025
Jake Retzlaff’s journey in college football has been anything but typical. Beginning with his junior year in high school, Retzlaff led the Centennial Huskies (Corona, California) to a 9-3 record while going undefeated in league play. This also happened to be the 2019-20 season, and Jake would not play another down of high school football due to the COVID pandemic.
Running out of options, he decided to keep his football dreams alive by going down the JuCo route and committed to Golden West College for the 2021 season. After one year at GWC, Retzlaff had dominated, throwing for 3,302 yards and 23 touchdowns. He took his success to another California JuCo, Riverside City College. In his second year of college football, Jake took the big leap.
His stats soared off the page, slinging a monster 4,596 passing yards for 44 touchdowns. After the 2022 season, it was finally Retzlaff’s time to make his way into D1 football.
Retzlaff was rated a 3-star and the #1 junior transfer QB that year, ultimately taking his talents to the postcard-worthy Provo, Utah to join the BYU Cougars. While initially just the backup, Retzlaff would get his first look at a Big 12 field in week 9 when starter Kedon Slovis went down with a shoulder injury, putting Retzlaff in control of Kalani Sitake’s offense. While the Cougars weren’t able to do much with their 2023 season, it was 2024 that would truly fulfill the prophecy.
In 2024, the Big 12 added Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and Arizona State from the ruins of the Pac-12. This replaced and exceeded the holes left by Oklahoma and Texas when they left for the SEC, and upped the competition in the conference. Through the first 3 games of the season, Retzlaff threw for 841 yards and 7 touchdowns, completing 60.4% of his passes as the Cougars cruised to 3-0. The media asked if BYU was legit, and they proved to be.
Retzlaff was living the dream, as the self-named “BYJew” signed an NIL deal with Manischewitz (a very popular Jewish food brand) and capitalized on the attention and success of the first Jewish starting quarterback in BYU history. The Cougars dominated through Week 9, as the boys in blue found themselves undefeated. They won close games against Baylor (34-28), Oklahoma State (38-35), and Utah (22-21). Riding high with Retzlaff at the helm, the #7 Cougars at 9-1 welcomed a struggling (4-6) Kansas Jayhawks team. While Kansas drew first blood, the Cougars went into halftime tied at 10. They would score a field goal in the 3rd, but it wasn’t nearly enough as Kansas scored a 4th quarter touchdown to take the lead and win the game. Retzlaff didn’t play badly, with a QBR of 126, he threw for just under 200 yards, a touchdown, and an interception, but the Big 12 is a competitive conference.
The now #14 Cougs looked to bounce back the next week in a top-25 matchup against #21 (and eventual Big 12 Champions) Arizona State. BYU couldn’t get much going in the first half, trailing 21-3. Something changed in that locker room at halftime, as they would come out and score 20 points in the second half, allowing just one ASU touchdown.
I’m not that good at math, but it wasn’t enough as BYU would lose its second straight game of the season, just their second loss all year. The Cougars would win their last regular season game against Houston easily, and took down Colorado with Coach Prime, Shedeur, and Heisman winner Travis Hunter in the Alamo Bowl. Going into his RS senior season, BYU looked like it had its guy, as the coaching staff started building its team around Retzlaff for another year of success.
This is where things get sticky. In May of this year, a lawsuit was filed against Retzlaff, accusing him of sexual assault in November of 2023. Retzlaff maintained his innocence as BYU launched an investigation of its own. Just a few months later, the lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice. As for the BYU investigation, Retzlaff wasn’t as fortunate. BYU is notably the largest Mormon university in the country, and along with the strong religious influence came an honor code that all students must sign and follow throughout their time in Provo. During the legal process, Retzlaff admitted to having premarital sex.
BYU’s Church Educational Honor Code states that students must “Live a chaste and virtuous life, including abstaining from sexual relations outside marriage between a man and a woman. Living a chaste and virtuous life also includes abstaining from same-sex romantic behavior.” In light of his admission, Retzlaff now faced a potential 7-game suspension from his school which would burn his final year of eligibility on the last 5 games of the season.
Retzlaff would enter the transfer portal, and verbally committed to Tulane shortly after. Reports are that Tulane spent nearly a week vetting Retzlaff’s background, deciding the 22-year-old was good enough to replace former Oregon transfer Ty Thompson after Thompson switched from QB to play tight end. The drama had come to an end.
Through the first two weeks of the 2025 season, Retzlaff has continued to win as Tulane sits at 2-0, featuring a win over Big Ten opponent Northwestern. Retzlaff threw for 152 yards and tacked on 113 of his own on the ground, including a 69-yard touchdown run that gave The Wave a 3-possession lead as the 2nd quarter came to a close. Jake Retzlaff’s exodus from the promised land was one of controversy, but the swamps may have gained the voodoo needed to win an American Conference Championship.
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