Although he accumulated various bumps and bruises, and was clearly not himself in the 17-13 loss to Kansas, Jake Retzlaff managed to start in all 13 of BYU’s games last season, leading the Cougars to a better-than-expected 11-2 record.
It was one of those rare situations in which a BYU quarterback remained relatively healthy an entire season. So what happens this year if the Cougars’ unquestioned starting quarterback suffers a setback like all of his most immediate predecessors — Kedon Slovis, Jaren Hall and Zach Wilson — did at one point or another in their BYU careers?
The answer to that question is to be determined, and is playing itself out, in BYU’s spring football camp, which began last week and will see its fourth of 15 scheduled practices on Friday.
Retzlaff’s backup in 2025 will be either Utah State transfer McCae Hillstead or Western Michigan transfer Treyson Bourguet, offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick has said. A fourth QB, Bountiful High’s Emerson Geilman, will join the program this summer.
Is there a deadline to name a QB2?
Roderick said if the backup QB derby “resolves itself by the end of spring, that would be great, but if it doesn’t then we will take it into fall camp if we have to.”
Is there a front-runner at his point in the race?
Roderick said on Monday that there isn’t, although Hillstead seemed to look crisper in the media viewing portion of practice (about a half hour) on Monday. That, of course, is a very, very small sample size.
What is evident is that they both have starting experience at the Division I level — Hillstead started in four games for the Aggies, while Bourguet played in 10 games over the course of two seasons at Western Michigan — and they both believe in themselves and have always dreamed of being BYU’s starting quarterback.
“Both are good players. Both of those guys have played in real football games,” Roderick said. “They are not like your typical new players. And they were both with us all last season. They are moving the team pretty well when they have a good team around them.
“That’s the problem — sometimes when you are with the second unit or the third unit, you don’t always have guys around you that know what they are doing,” Roderick continued. “Every time those two guys have had a chance to play with people that know what they are doing they play pretty well.”
Who are these guys?
Physically, they are very different guys, from different places.
Bourguet is a 6-foot-2, 205-pound, bearded redshirt junior (yes, he has a beard card) from Tucson, Arizona, who describes himself as a Lutheran who was drawn to BYU because of the “religious aspect” of the school supported by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Fun fact from his profile on BYUCougars.com: He is named Treyson because he’s the third son in his family and his older brothers Trenton (quarterback) and Coben (receiver) played, or play, football for Arizona State.
“I had a lot of schools (reach out) when I entered the portal,” he said. “BYU was the closest to home for me, and the location was definitely a big thing, which is why I set my mind and my heart (on) BYU from the get go. … I am Christian. A lot of the morals, a lot of the beliefs are similar. I knew that this was a place where I could be the best person that I want to be, and I can definitely thrive outside of the classroom here.”
Hillstead is a 5-10, 195-pound redshirt sophomore from Lehi who led Skyridge High to the 2022 6A state football championship before signing with Utah State and throwing for 1,062 yards and 11 touchdowns for the Aggies in 2023. Fun bio fact: Hillstead speaks Mandarin, a dialect of Chinese.
“I just thought coming to BYU would be a really good fit for me, and I really liked the coaches here,” said Hillstead, who threw for a school freshman-record 399 yards against James Madison when he was at USU. “I figured I could assimilate well into the BYU culture, and I was right. … I am super happy to be here. I love BYU. So yeah, it is different (than Utah State), but I am enjoying being here.”
The report from Retzlaff
Quarterbacks almost had to wear name tags last spring because there were at least nine in camp, on some days. Not so in 2025, as pending roster limitations have hit the quarterbacks’ room hard. But there is a silver lining, and not just because the guys who really need the most reps in practice are getting them.
“It was already the closest room that I have been a part of,” Retzlaff said. “I love both those guys to death. They are awesome. … They are two good football players, and really smart guys.”
As far as a scouting report on each guy, Retzlaff said they “definitely have different playing styles” and different personalities.
“McCae, we joke, is the short-style guy. But he can move. He can run really well. He sees it really well. Everybody talks about, like, the down side of being smaller is maybe not seeing it. McCae sees it really well.
“Don’t get that mistaken at all,” Retzlaff said.
“That is one of the hardest things to tell in a quarterback, in recruiting or anything like that, is, does he have it? Can he see it? And he can see it. So it is fun to watch him play.”
Retzlaff described Hillstead as “the funniest guy” who overcomplicates things to simplify them, somehow.
While Hillstead transferred to BYU after spring ball last year, Bourguet enrolled in January as a walk-on and went through camp as Retzlaff and Gerry Bohanon battled to be the starter.
He was awarded a scholarship after spring camp concluded.
“Treyson has obviously been here a little bit longer, has asked most of the questions. But he is still the same way. Both are progressing through it,” Retzlaff said. “It is going to be really fun to watch those guys compete.”
Wanted: More completions, less pizza consumption, from Retzlaff
Whoever is running the show in 2025, Roderick has been adamant that he wants his quarterback to be more accurate than Retzlaff was last year, when he completed 58% of his passes for 2,947 yards and 20 touchdowns, with 12 interceptions.
“We need to throw a higher completion percentage. We are working on that every day, and (Jake) is doing a good job so far. … There has been good improvement there and there are a lot of things that we are looking for (that are happening),” Roderick said. “Overall, his leadership (is good).
“You have to earn the right to talk to your teammates about things we need to correct and get fixed. I think he has been here long enough now that he has sort of earned the right to speak up when he needs to.”
Roderick said coaches had a “goal weight” for Retzlaff, and the senior is getting close to it, but his body composition is of greater importance.
“When he first got here, he had been eating Costco pizzas, driving 100 miles a day to junior college. He got here with a Costco pizza body,” Roderick said. “Two years in the program now, he has completely changed his body. He looks so much better. So we are trying to build up durability without sacrificing any speed.”
