Steve Young accomplished a lot of amazing things over his football career — including a Super Bowl victory and enshrinement in the Pro Football and College Football halls of fame. But Young never quarterbacked a BYU team to a 5-0 start and as he watches his unbeaten and 14th-ranked alma mater prepare to face Arizona, he can barely contain himself.
“He has held on to his swashbuckler mentality, but he has limited the goofball mistakes. Now, he still has them, and I think we are just going to have to love him through some of those, but I think he’s grown up and I’m just ecstatic for him — and there is a lot more to do.”
“I know things can go haywire, but it feels like with that defense and how we have grown offensively with more confidence in Jake (Retzlaff), I’m ready for anybody,” Young told the “Y’s Guys” podcast. “I honestly feel like — bring it on! If someone punches us in the face and we don’t have an answer for it, fine. We’ll chew on the next guy. We are not going anywhere. It’s going to be a lot of fun this season.”
The Cougars (5-0, 2-0) host the Wildcats (3-2, 1-1) on Saturday (2 p.m., Fox). Picked 13th in the Big 12 preseason poll, BYU’s hot start has stunned the conference.
“If our defense can continue to play lights out like that, everyone is nervous,” Young said. “I guarantee you, everyone on that schedule is like, ‘Oh, my gosh, can we get three or four touchdowns out of this game and somehow eke a win?’”
When Young watches Retzlaff work through his junior season, he sees a lot of his younger, unpolished self — and not all of it is good.
“There were a few interceptions I threw when my linemen would turn to me and say, ‘You did that on purpose!’ I’d said, ‘I did not do that on purpose,’ and they would go, ‘How could you not have done that on purpose? What were you thinking?’” Young said with a reminiscing laugh. “I think about that for Jake. There has to be times when people ask, ‘Did you do that on purpose because it sure (looked) like it?’”
Retzlaff’s offseason preparation, following his 0-4 debut as a starter at the end of 2023, triggered his turnaround.
“He has held on to his swashbuckler mentality, but he has limited the goofball mistakes,” Young said. “Now, he still has them, and I think we are just going to have to love him through some of those, but I think he’s grown up and I’m just ecstatic for him — and there is a lot more to do. He is having incredible experiences learning while winning. That’s the greatest thing in the world — learning and winning. Sign me up.”
In his nine starts at BYU, Retzlaff has accounted for 19 touchdowns — that’s more than Jaren Hall, Zach Wilson, Tanner Mangum, Riley Nelson, John Beck and Steve Sarkisian. Retzlaff’s 13 turnovers are fewer than Sarkisian, Beck and Max Hall through their first nine starts. Notably, seven of Retzlaff’s starts came against Power Four defenses, which is unprecedented in program history.
“I tear up thinking about quarterbacks going through it and finding ways to find the full measure of who they can be because, so few guys have that support. So few guys can get on the field and stay on the field. So few guys have that kind of success,” Young said. “So, he is in a beautiful place right now. Don’t get cocky. Have the same vulnerability and humility that you started the season with. I don’t want to see a 5-0 Jake Retzlaff go out there and be like, ‘I’m 5-0 and I’m just gonna rip it!’”
During Saturday’s game, BYU will recognize its seven members of the College Football Hall of Fame as part of the season-long 100 Years of BYU Football celebrations. Young and his wife, Barbara (an Arizona alum), will be in attendance as the Cougars recognize him, Gifford Nielsen, Marc Wilson, Jim McMahon, Ty Detmer and the late-Gordon Hudson and LaVell Edwards.
Like the others, Young’s journey was anything but a cakewalk.
“We all started from nowhere and it was a long, arduous path,” Young said. “It’s almost like everyone climbs Everest from a different direction and then you meet at the top and it’s like, ‘Hey, no way! You made it! How was the trip? Oh, it was brutal, but we got here.’”
Young was inducted in 2005 after amassing 8,817 yards of total offense and 74 combined touchdowns (56 passing, 18 rushing) in only 31 games.
“There is a comradery or spirit to honor the journey and honor so many around us who helped us and so many who got hurt and couldn’t see the full measure of their capacity, so I think that is all wrapped up in the seven of us,” Young said. “I’m trying to describe something that is deeply meaningful personally as a group, and then kind of collectively as we represent so many others. In that way, it’s a heavy thing. There is deep meaning to it.”
Dave McCann is a sportswriter and columnist for the Deseret News and is a play-by-play announcer and show host for BYUtv/ESPN+. He co-hosts “Y’s Guys” at ysguys.com and is the author of the children’s book “C is for Cougar,” available at deseretbook.com.
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