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Jake Retzlaff may be staring down at the heated room at Tulane’s QB woes at Green Wave, but his heart is still tied to Provo. The adrenaline-pumped locker room is heading towards the trenches for the season opener, buzzing with intensity. And in these crucial moments, Retzlaff took a pause, taking out some time for his beau Jaelynn, sending across a beautiful message on her special day.

“Happy Birthday to the one and only @jaelynn.lambert,” he captioned the beautiful photo collage on Instagram. Painted with beautiful memories, the canvas showed glimpses of their relationship. In one frame, the duo are holding hands as they walk on the street, while another frame shows Jeff planting a wholesome kiss on Jeaelynn’s cheek. In one of the photographs, they are spending quality time on the beach. Another frame shows Jaelynn on a golf course.

Retzlaff and Lambert have never shied away from being public about their relationship. The QB often shares posts celebrating her milestones and moments, even dedicating an Instagram highlight to her.

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Lambert is a student-athlete representing the BYU Cougars in softball. She serves as an outfielder. In 2018, she earned the Rookie of the Year honor, CIF Southwestern Second Team All-league, and Player of the Game Award thrice. Adding to her achievements stash, she was also named to the 2021 PGF All-American watch list and ranked 57th in the Extra Inning Softball Top 100 in 2021.

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Jake Retzlaff and Jaelynn’s romantic relationship shot to the highlight during the Alamo Bowl last season. When Jaelynn was spotted rooting for her beau as he led the Cougars to an 11-2 overall record. Retzlaff’s reigning achievements with the Cougars put him in the spotlight. But later, he bid adieu to Provo and set foot in Tulane’s stacked QB room, where his future became clear as the clock struck the final hour of QB reveal.

Jake Retzlaff, Tulane, and the QB1 dilemma

Nothing matches the thrill on the sidelines than an undecided quarterback before the roster steps into the trenches. At Tulane, head coach Jon Sumrall plans to execute the same. “I will probably name a starter at 10:59 a.m. on game day when we play at 11,” Sumrall had said. Considering that there’s just a couple of minutes left before Matt Schumacker and Dustin Fox hit the gong, the QB1 conundrum is already upping the anticipation. So, what are Jake Retzlaff’s chances?

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Considering his robust resume, the answer to that might appear close to a yes. The Green Wave is stacked with quarterbacks, four transfer quarterbacks, along with five returning QBs from last campaign. But Retzlaff’s prior stint as the starting quarterback for the Cougars might come in handy. Last season with Tulane, he steered the offense, leading to an 11-2 campaign, wrapping up with an Alamo Bowl victory over Deion Sanders’ Boulder. He completed 57.9% of his passes, tallying 2,947 yards, 20 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions, and led the roster to the No. 13th spot in the final Associated Press rankings.

He is one of the seasoned quarterbacks in the stacked QB room, and Brendon Sullivan’s injury might give him an upper hand to get the QB1 gig. But having said that, the Iowa transfer wouldn’t go down without a fight. His injury (foot and ankle injury) led him to miss a couple of practice sessions, but his experience leading Northwestern (in 2023, before he went to Iowa) to the Las Vegas Bowl might be an asset. Let’s see how Jon Sumrall plans to make headlines before the QB even takes the first snap.

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