BYU Passing Attack Amongst Questions Answered Against Southern Illinois
Aug 31, 2024, 9:42 PM | Updated: Sep 3, 2024, 1:57 pm
PROVO, Utah – The BYU Cougars started off the 2024 season with a convincing win over FCS opponent Southern Illinois 41-13.
24 second-half points helped the Cougars pull away from the Salikus for their 19th FCS win.
Let’s answer some questions from the first win of the 2024 season.
Who was the MVP for BYU Football?
Jake Retzlaff won the starting quarterback job over transfer Gerry Bohanon, although the announcement wasn’t made until hours before kickoff.
He played his best game as a BYU Cougar by a mile.
The offense put up over 500 yards of offense and Retzlaff threw for 348 yards and three touchdowns.
Jake Retzlaff up top to Jojo Phillips on the deep ball makes it 14-0 in Provo❕#Big12FB | 📺 ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/HcJd24vpzo
— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) September 1, 2024
Retzlaff took care of the ball and made good decisions in the red zone.
I was impressed with the accuracy and touch displayed on his intermediate and deep passes against the Salukis.
It was a good start for Retzlaff, but ultimately he’ll need to show he can put up similar numbers against teams in the Big 12.
What was the most impactful play of the game?
Midway through the first quarter, BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick dialed up a long developing pass play.
The offensive line provided plenty of time for starting quarterback Jake Retzlaff to deliver a bomb down the field.
BEAUTIFUL deep ball from Jake Retzlaff to Jojo Phillips for the TD.
Explosive plays were something missing last season and it's nice to see one early against SIU. #BYU #BYUFootball #Big12
— Matthew Baiamonte (@baiamontematt) September 1, 2024
Sophomore receiver Jojo Phillips caught the touchdown pass for the second score of the game.
The Cougars need to produce more explosive plays in 2024. It was a point of emphasis for BYU football earlier in the decade.
More long-scoring plays will help the Cougars exceed low preseason expectations.
What was the most interesting stat from the game?
In his first start of the 2024 season, Jake Retzlaff threw for 348 yards.
BYU football only eclipsed that mark twice in 2023.
Retzlaff threw for less than 200 yards in three of his first four starts, so this outburst through the air was nice to see.
400-yard games for #BYU in 2023: 0
It only took one game in 2024 to reach the 400-yard mark.#BYUFootball
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) September 1, 2024
The Cougars emphasized improving the run game in the offseason and they rushed for 179 yards.
Hinckley Ropati and LJ Martin helped the Cougars average 3.8 yards per carry.
However, BYU will always be a passing school and they did a great job in that department in the season-opening win.
When was the game won by BYU football?
Southern Illinois attempted a fake punt in the third quarter, but BYU safety Tanner Wall shut down the trickeration with a great open-field tackle.
The BYU offense took advantage of the short field with a three-play scoring drive that was capped off by a touchdown pass from Retzlaff to Mata’ava Ta’ase.
. @tav_taase 🫶 pic.twitter.com/RxZg0f97Ig
— BYU FOOTBALL (@BYUfootball) September 1, 2024
It was a gutsy move by Southern Illinois to attempt the fake punt on their side of the field. However, the BYU defense was shutting down the Saluki offense so it’s hard to blame them for the attempt.
It’s hard to judge the improvement of the BYU defense against Southern Illinois. They produced one turnover and sacked DJ Williams twice.
We’ll get a much better idea after next week against SMU regarding the defensive improvement from 2023.
You can hear Matt Baiamonte every Saturday on KSL Newsradio for Cougar Sports Saturday from 12:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. or you can find him on Twitter @baiamontematt here.
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