Jake Retzlaff prepares for Ole Miss, mulls BYU

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

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

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

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

Disappointed, but determined, Retzlaff quietly left town.

“I’ve received some really good advice throughout my career: people telling me to follow the right path and to stay in touch with so many people who matter to me,” he said. “There are a lot of special people at BYU who are family to me, especially in this locker room.

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

Jake’s Detour

As Retzlaff left BYU’s campus last summer, his mind was full of questions. The place he had grown to love was in his rearview mirror with an open road of uncertainty ahead of him.

“I knew that wherever I went, if there was an opportunity to play, I would 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 make the playoffs.”

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With no guarantee of playing time, Retzlaff had to earn the starting job during fall camp and win over the team at the same time. As for writing the playbook, he drew on his experience at BYU.

“I I learned a lot about football from A-Rod (Aaron Roderick), Matt MitchellFesi (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 done a lot of these things before.

This includes victory.

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 victories against Tulsa (31-14), East Carolina (26-19) and Army (24-17).

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“This team stuck together like glue all season long,” Retzlaff said. “To be honest, I didn’t know what it would be like being so new and trying to get to know the guys. We’ve grown up a lot.”

Flying high at 6-1 and just outside the top 25, Tulane made 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 the Tulane team bus stopped at the Alamodome.

Emotional return

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

“The emotions that came to me when I walked into that building were exactly the same as when I walked in with BYU,” he said. “I walked over to the locker where I was sitting – it was surreal.”

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In what must have seemed like just days ago, Retzlaff’s mind drifted back to Dec. 28 when his underdog Cougars lit up No. 23 Colorado 36-14. Not only did the win move BYU (11-2) to No. 13 in the final AP Top 25, but an Alamo Bowl record 7,996,679 viewers watched.

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

“Coming back to the Alamo Bowl was an emotional experience. It just shows how I feel about my time at BYU,” he said. “I’m so grateful for my experience and it’s something no one 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 the top 25 and reach the program’s first College Football Playoff. Throughout this journey, he kept a close eye on his former team.

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“They’ve been so much fun to watch. Every time they were on, I was glued to the TV,” he said. “Boy, this little child, LJ Martin, grew up and became something.”

Martin totaled 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 on-field interactions was during player practice before our first seasons,” Retzlaff said. “I was getting mad at him for missing a play. It’s literally his first day on the field, but it never changed our relationship.”

With Retzlaff gone, BYU turned the offense over to true freshman Bear Bachmeier who won the Big 12 freshman offensive player.

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“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 has up to 2,862 passing yards and 14 touchdowns for the Green Wave. Retzlaff reduced his interceptions from 12 to 6 and increased his touchdown passes from 6 to 16.

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“The biggest and hardest thing was establishing that chemistry with the guys,” he said. “I’ve played the ball really well this year and learning how to command a new offense has been fun.”

Above all, Retzlaff continues to win. Over the past two seasons at BYU and Tulane, he is 22-4 as a starter with one bowl game win and an upcoming playoff date.

“Do it as a team. That might be a boring answer, but it’s the most truthful answer,” Retzlaff said of his successes. “I’ve also been lucky. I’ve been able to play with great defensive teams, great coordinators and coaches. The way it works is the team has to come together without anyone being selfish.”

Good days

These are good days for Retzlaff. After winning the U.S. championship, ABC cameras followed him parading around Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in New Orleans as if he had been riding the green wave his whole life.

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

His mustache was also visible on championship night.

“I decided to give it a try, why not? It worked for me,” he joked. “I added him in the middle of the season. It was a process to get him to where he is now.”

The same can be said of Retzlaff himself. It’s 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 gets Tulane into the College Football Playoff.

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