BYU’s season-opening victory was the first step in righting the ship after last season. The Cougars' victory against Southern Illinois was their first since beating the Texas Tech Red Raiders on Oct. 21, 2023.
The Cougars won, and won handily, 41-13.
“Winning felt good you know after going on a five-game losing streak but it felt good to go back out there and get a win and show people what we’re about,” BYU running back LJ Martin said.
Despite what appeared to be an easy, boring win for BYU, storylines were oozing from this game.
The offense
The Cougar offense looked just about how it was supposed to against an overmatched Salukis defense. Jake Retzlaff started at quarterback and played all the meaningful series against Southern Illinois after beating out Gerry Bohanon for the starting spot in fall camp.
“When we put it out there Jake won the spot, the special thing about it was that Gerry was so supportive,” said BYU coach Kalani Sitake. “We went with what we felt was right.”
Retzlaff was in control of the offense the entire night, completing 20 of 30 passes for a career-high 348 yards and three touchdowns. The highlight of his night was this deep ball to Jojo Phillips, who scored his second touchdown as a BYU Cougar.
LET IT FLY @jretz11!!
— BYU FOOTBALL (@BYUfootball) September 1, 2024
📺: https://t.co/zDOxM9A89H pic.twitter.com/Pgc2y0DEU0
There still may be a time this season where Bohanon has to play at quarterback but Retzlaff played well and has confidence in himself moving forward.
“When you win any competition it makes you feel good about yourself,” Retzlaff said. “But you can’t just sit there and feel good about yourself, we had a game to win.
BYU’s running attack was solid, rushing for 179 yards. LJ Martin and Hinckley Ropati split carries for BYU. Martin rushed 13 times for 67 yards and scored two touchdowns, while Ropati rushed 13 times for 57 yards and scored a touchdown himself.
Saturday marked the first time BYU had over 400 yards of total offense since the Cougars beat Stanford on November 26, 2022. They totaled 527 yards, which is a respectable number against an FCS opponent.
The defense
BYU’s defense against Southern Illinois showed signs of improvement from last season. The Cougars were in the Salukis backfield all night recording two sacks, 3 quarterback hurries and seven tackles-for-loss. It was a step in the right direction for a defense that struggled to force negative plays last season. Isaiah Bagnah recorded a sack and 1.5 tackles for loss, while John Nelson and Logan Lutui each recorded a sack. Jakob Robinson recorded the game’s only turnover with an interception in the fourth quarter.
The bigger defensive storyline was the health of defensive coordinator Jay Hill who had heart surgery Thursday night. Despite having a heart attack, Hill was present at the game calling plays in the booth Saturday night.
“It was great to hear his voice,” said Sitake. “He’s always been great for me… I’m just glad he’s doing good right now.”
Missed opportunities
For BYU it was overall a successful night but there were some hiccups on both sides of the ball. BYU’s offense stalled out in the second quarter missing a field goal and turning the ball over on downs. The defense allowed multiple big plays from SIU starting quarterback DJ Williams.
“We had some runs get away from us,” said BYU defensive lineman John Nelson. “It’s first-game stuff… . I think we’ll watch film on it and practice it throughout the week.”
The overall takeaway from BYU’s first game is that there were no red flags. Even teams as high-caliber as Oregon were in dogfights this weekend and BYU avoided a stressful ending against Southern Illinois.
The offense and the defense showed signs of improvement from last season running the ball and getting after the opposing team’s quarterback. BYU can take away a lot of positives from this game as it prepares for SMU on Friday.