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PROVO — As the BYU football team put the final touches on preseason training camp Tuesday before shifting focus toward the season opener against Sam Houston, the two-deep depth chart came into clearer focus.
The complete two-deep will be finalized by Monday, but some key questions were resolved Tuesday afternoon — and one major surprise jumped out on the offensive side.
As usual, it starts with the quarterbacks.
Junior college transfer Jake Retzlaff won the backup quarterback job behind starter Kedon Slovis over a contenders' pool that included incumbents Cade Fennegan and Nick Billoups and the rise of freshmen Ryder Burton and Cole Hagen, offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick declared via a videoconference call with local media Tuesday.
The No. 1-rated JUCO quarterback in ESPN's Junior College 50 a year ago, Retzlaff passed for 4,596 yards and 44 touchdowns with a pass efficiency rating of 165.4 in 2022 at Riverside City College, a year after throwing for 3,302 yards and 23 scores as a freshman at California's Golden West.
But the difference in the newcomer and Fennegan, who transferred to BYU after his freshman season at Boise State, was so fine that both quarterbacks will have backup roles in Roderick's offense.
Because Fennegan has already used his redshirt year, the sophomore from Dallas may get the backup nod if Retzlaff can preserve his redshirt under the NCAA's recent four-game redshirt policy.
"Depending on the situation throughout the season, we'll make decisions about who goes in first (after Slovis)," Roderick said. "It would be great to say we can go the whole season without burning Jake's redshirt, but you can't always think like that; you just have to be ready to play and handle any situation that comes up."
Roderick said his confidence in Cade, who played in three games with the Broncos before transferring following the 2020 season, is "so high right now compared to a year ago."
"A year ago, he was still learning and trying to stay healthy," Roderick said. "Cade's had a really good camp. I feel like we can win with him, and I feel like we can win with Jake. I feel really confidence, obviously, with Kedon. I expect him to play very well."
BYU head coach Kalani Sitake confirmed that an eye will be on Retzlaff's four-game limit during the season, but the coaches also won't hesitate to play the best signal caller in certain situations, such as an injury to Slovis, the fifth-year quarterback transfer from Scottsdale, Arizona, by way of USC and Pitt. He also deferred final announcement of personnel decisions to his coordinators, noting that he "talks a lot" with his two top assistants that he's known since they were together on Kyle Whittingham's staff at Utah over a decade ago.
But as for Retzlaff (and others) potentially redshirting this year ...
"You want everyone to be ready," Sitake said. "But there's a natural tendency if a guy has a redshirt, he may want to save a year and use those four games. Everyone is up for grabs in Game 1."
Roderick also said the "four of the five" starters on the offensive line have been set, with returning tackle and All-Big 12 preseason first-team selection Kingsley Suamataia and center/guards Paul Maile and Connor Pay earning a spot on the first five, and Oklahoma State transfer tackle Caleb Etienne likely to join them. That leaves one guard spot to finalize from a pool that includes Missouri State transfer Ian Fitzgerald and Utah State transfer Weylin Lapuaho, among others, with Pay able to play all three spots in the interior line.
But perhaps the biggest surprise came at tight end, where Southern Utah transfer Mata'ava Ta'ase cemented the No. 2 spot behind returning standout Isaac Rex in the tight end room.
Roderick said Ta'ase's 6-foot-3, 255-pound frame, work ethic, and knowledge of the offense from his time under former Southern Utah offensive coordinator (and one-time BYU offensive analyst) Blair Peterson propelled the former FCS tight end towards the two-deep.
"He came in as our eighth tight end, and asked for a chance to walk on," Roderick said of the Mesa, Arizona, product. "All he did was shoot right up the depth chart. Every day he did something to get noticed. He's going to play a lot."
Ta'ase appeared in 16 games for the Thunderbirds across three seasons (inclluding the FCS 2020 season that was pushed to the spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic). Last year, he caught 19 passes for 214 yards and two touchdowns in nine games, including a career-high five receptions for 96 yards and a touchdown in a 44-13 win over St. Thomas.
Newcomers Ray Paulo and Jackson Bowers will also see significant minutes, as well as returning tight end Ethan Erickson and Mason Fakahua, the former Cedar High quarterback who could take on more of a modified fullback or H-back role following the departure of Masen Wake to medical retirement.
That Bowers, the four-star freshman out of Mountain View High in Mesa, Arizona, is likely to find playing time in his first season isn't a surprise to Roderick, either.
"Jackson has a really high ceiling," he said. "He's not quite game-ready yet, but we're going to get him there. I wouldn't be surprised at all if he's a factor in this season. ... Talent-wise, he has a lot of ability."
BYU has a key advantage in the running back room, with two-time transfer Aidan Robbins leading an experienced group that includes senior Hinckley Ropati and Colorado transfer Deion Smith. But Las Vegas speedster Miles Davis has 14 games scattered over three years of experience at BYU, and the emergence of freshman LJ Martin can't be ignored, either.
At wide receiver, coach Fesi Sitake previously said he anticipates a top-six selection of returning starters Chase Roberts, Kody Epps and Keanu Hill; Eastern Michigan transfer Darius Lassiter; UConn transfer Keelan Marion; and redshirt freshman Parker Kingston out of Roy High. Talmage Gunther and Hobbs Nyberg are also among the rotation, with Nyberg seeing plenty of time in the return game, as well.
The Cougars open the 2023 season Sept. 2 against Football Bowl Subdivision newcomer Sam Houston (8:15 p.m. MT, FS1).
"I feel like we're right on schedule to be ready to play. We aren't ready quite yet, but we have a good team," Roderick said. "We have a lot of depth; this is the deepest team offensively that we've had since I've been here.
"We might not have a Puka (Nacua, current Rams receiver), per se, but I like our depth at every position, and I think we're more equipped to make it through the full season."
