Going into the 2025 offseason, the BYU Cougars seemed to have a stable QB situation. Jake Retzlaff, a senior, was set to be the clear starter, letting Coach Kalani Sitake focus the quarterback competition on the backup spot. However, everything changed when a civil lawsuit emerged against Retzlaff, alleging misconduct from a November 2023 incident. Now, not only is Retzlaff’s status in doubt, but so is the entire path for a BYU team that believed it had the talent to contend in its third Big 12 season.

Cougars insider Mitch Harper summed up the uneasy tone to JJ & Alex on KSL Sports: “This feeling that this team has a lot to prove still because they didn’t get to the Big 12 Championship game. So, there’s a little bit of the chip on the shoulder, but when you hear that commentary… well, what’s your quarterback situation gonna be?” Harper added that the latest update on Retzlaff was still no update at all—”no comment” from BYU brass and a quiet-but-looming cloud over everything. “It’s just an elephant in the room still,” he said.

That presence—silent but weighty—hovered over the Big 12 meetings, where media interactions felt more muted than in past years. “Players kind of did their own thing and played a little bit later in the afternoon, and it’s just an elephant in the room,” Harper explained.

When asked about working with the QBs, wide receiver Parker Kingston gave the usual positive answers. Even so, he could sense some underlying strain. “You ask him about the offseason training with the quarterbacks and the receivers. Is it there any sort of awkwardness? And, they’re saying all the right things, but you just wonder if this uncertainty at that position at quarterback could take away from what should be a really good BYU football team,” Harper said. He’s not wrong—66 days until kickoff, and the starting passing situation is still stuck in neutral.

But that’s not the only “what if” swirling in Provo. Another looming question? Who replaces Jakob Robinson in BYU’s secondary? The answer could be Mory Bamba. And while Bamba’s 2024 stats—25 tackles and 5 pass deflections—might not leap off the page, the narrative is more about growth than flash. With an NCAA waiver granting Bamba another year of eligibility, he becomes the de facto CB1 for the Cougars in 2025. It’s a bet on development over the transfer portal. A classic Kalani Sitake move.

Behind Bamba is a young trio that could either blossom or break: Therrian Alexander, Jonathan Kabeya, and Evan Johnson. The raw talent is unquestionable. But the reps? Not nearly enough. Instead of plugging gaps with plug-and-play transfers, BYU is leaning into its depth chart—a decision that could pay off in November or haunt them by mid-September. On paper, the inexperience could be the biggest threat to the defense. No Robinson, no Marque Collins, and no safety net.

Fall camp will be everything for this position group. The coaching staff has made its decision, and Cougar Nation will soon find out whether it’s calculated patience or misplaced optimism. The upside? Tremendous, if the group develops in sync. The downside? Big 12 passers are picking apart soft coverage early and often. In a league where margins are thin and secondary mistakes often go viral, BYU’s back end could determine just how far—or how fast—this team sinks or soars.

As for now, the spotlight remains firmly on Jake Retzlaff’s status and the stability of the young corners. Sixty-six days until BYU’s season opener, and the Cougars still have more questions than answers. That’s never a great place to be in July.

Who, if not Jake Retzlaff?

If Jake Retzlaff doesn’t suit up in 2025, it’s not just a matter of plugging in the next guy on the depth chart. What might be irreplaceable is the leap BYU was banking on from Retzlaff coming out of Fall camp. Kind of jump that could’ve vaulted the Cougars into Big 12 contention. Without that version of Retzlaff, it’s an uphill climb.

But if he’s out, who steps in? That’s the million-dollar question—and right now, there are three names in the mix: McCae Hillstead, Treyson Bourguet, and Bear Bachmeier.

Hillstead and Bourguet aren’t new to Provo—they’re both entering year two in the system. That’s a plus. But they’ve never worked with the first-team offense. During Fall camp Jake Retzlaff and Gerry Bohanon split all the top reps. Hillstead and Bourguet split reps with the third-team offense, and when Spring camp wrapped up, no one had locked in the backup spot. If Retzlaff is sidelined, those two will now be thrown into a much higher-stakes battle for the QB1 throne.

And then there’s the wildcard—true freshman Bear Bachmeier. The former four-star recruit transferred in from Stanford after a short stint on The Farm.