How BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff performs against his Big 12 counterparts after halftime

The quarterback battle was the most important storyline of BYU's offseason. Jake Retzlaff and Gerry Bohanon fought for the starting spot until the end of fall camp. In fact, BYU didn't announce its starting quarterback externally until the afternoon of week one. Retzlaff was named the starter and BYU hasn't looked back. After six games and a 6-0 start, there is no longer a quarterback debate in Provo. Today we take a look back at the first half of the 2024 season to evaluate Jake Retzlaff compared to his Big 12 peers (minimum 100 attempts).

Start with the most basic metric: passing yards. Retzlaff has thrown for 1,424 yards in six games. How did that compare to other Big 12 quarterbacks? Here are the top 10:

Retzlaff is in eighth place in the conference, just behind Rocco Becht. Retzlaff is on pace to throw for 2,848 yards in the regular season.

One of Jake Retzlaff's strengths this season has been passing in the redzone. Retzlaff took care of the football and turned chances into touchdowns. He is the main reason BYU's redzone offense was efficient. BYU was forced to substitute many players at running back due to injuries, forcing them to rely on passing the football in key moments.

Retzlaff is tied for fourth in the conference with 13 touchdown passes. His TD/INT ratio has improved over the course of the season. After week seven, he has a TD/Int ratio of 2.6. That's fifth place in the Big 12.

Jake Retzlaff hasn't thrown as many passes as a handful of quarterbacks in the league. He ranks fourth in yards per attempt behind KJ Jefferson, Rocco Becht and Brendan Sorsby.

In terms of quarterback passer rating, Retzlaff ranks sixth out of the league's 16 starting quarterbacks.

PFF ratings are a great way to break down a quarterback's impact on a game versus pure statistical output. PFF removes the noise and compares a quarterback's performance relative to the situations in which he was deployed. Did they get the right metrics? How did they perform under pressure? Were they throwing to receivers open or to receivers who were wide open? All of these things factor into the PFF grades.

As far as passing grades go, Jake Retzlaff is one of the better quarterbacks in the Big 12.

1. Shedeur Sanders – 90.6
2. Brendan Sorsby – 82.2
3. Jake Retzlaff – 78.6
4. Garrett Greene – 78.4
5. Rocco Becht – 77.4
6. Josh Hoover – 76.6
7. Sam Leavitt – 73.1
8. Sawyer Robertson – 72.1
9. Behren Morton – 68.6
10. Noah Fifita – 67.3
11. KJ Jefferson – 67.2
12. Alan Bowman – 66.6
13. Avery Johnson – 63.8
14. Jalon Daniels – 57.0
15. Donovan Smith – 54.9
16. Cam Rising – 51.4/Isaac Wilson – 50.9

By most measures, Jake Retzlaff is in the top half of Big 12 quarterbacks. He has been opportunistic and has shown tremendous growth in 2024 compared to 2023. Retzlaff has a ton of potential, but he also has a ton of room for improvement – and that's probably the most intriguing thing about this BYU football team. It's important to remember that he only started 10 games for BYU. It's reasonable to expect Jake Retzlaff to look better in the second half of the season than he did in the first half.

If Retzlaff can continue to improve each week, BYU has a chance to play its best football in November.