Quarterback to Back: At Least We Know Who BYU’s QB Is

The Cowboys are set to surface from an off week on Friday night, and as of Tuesday, we still don’t know who will be captaining the submarine.

Alan Bowman’s struggles of late have been well-documented, and, going into this past bye week, many fans expected (or were at least hopeful) that a change would be made. On Monday, Mike Gundy said that “all our guys” are working and that he’d instructed his staff that a decision had to be made late Thursday.

While the 3-3 Cowboys are still figuring out who will be taking snaps, the 6-0 Cougars have been set with their QB all year.

So since we are unsure who will be squaring off against BYU’s Jake Retzlaff, we’ll just compare both of OSU’s passers who have played against their hosting counterpart. Feels like I’m back in ’23.

Those that peruse this site often know what we can probably expect from Bowman. Unfortunately, that has been the unexpected. After flip-flopping efficient games for ugly ones over the nonconference, the seventh-year quarterback has been mostly the latter during an 0-3 Big 12 start.

Rangel’s numbers and limited snaps haven’t inspired a ton of confidence or excitement from the fanbase, but both of his appearances have come in bail-out mode with the Cowboys down big. There is a line of thinking (which I don’t think is completely crazy) that to see what they have, coaches should have dropped the reins in Rangel’s lap at the start of the off week. It doesn’t appear that has happened, so we’ll see.

Oh yeah, and there has been talk of some mythical creature on the sidelines called a Zane Flores, but his on-field existence is yet to be confirmed.

In Provo, the Cougars handed the reins to Jake Retzlaff last fall. He took over for injured Kedon Slovis and finished the year out behind center. In his four games to cap 2023, Retzlaff went 0-4, completed just 50% of his passes and threw as many interceptions (three) as he did TDs. He finished his season with a 40-34 loss in Stillwater while completing just 46.7% of this throws and no passing TDs, though he did rush for two.

But in 2024, the script has been flipped.

Not only have Retzlaff’s numbers improved dramatically, as you can see above, he’s got the Cougars purring. No. 13 BYU is 6-0, with wins over current ranked teams SMU and Kansas State — and that was a thumping. The Cougars are fresh off a big win over Arizona and, now entering the second half of the season, are starting to eye their path to Arlington.

Retzlaff’s total yardage numbers aren’t breath-taking, but his efficiency was greatly improved this season. And he’s taking care of the ball. In fact, BYU’s red-zone efficiency and favorable turnover margin have helped lead to the following, somewhat anomalous-looking, chestnut. The Retzlaff-led Cougars have outscored teams 206-98 and rank third in scoring offense in the Big 12 while somehow ranking 14th in total offense.

None of his single statistical columns will likely knock your socks off, but he has been improved across the board overall this season. But his efficiency has taken a dip over the last two, a trend OSU’s defense hopes to continue and capitalize on.

Speaking of anomalous numbers, take a look at his last two box scores in wins over Baylor and then Arizona. Just strange.

Overall in 2024, Retzlaff has been consistent and, thus far, unbeatable. If the Cowboys want to bounce back after their bye, they’ll have some tough sledding in Provo. It will likely take a dramatic comeback both by OSU’s quarterback (whoever that is) and its defense as the Cowboys have been outscored 80-34 in their last two outings.