Two Truths and a Lie About BYU’s Offense After Win Over SMU

There were major concerns about the BYU offense heading into the 2024 season. BYU’s offense showed signs of improvement in the season opener against Southern Illinois, but a sluggish performance against SMU left more questions than answers for Aaron Roderick’s unit. After a tough outing against SMU, let’s break down the BYU offense with a celebratory classic: Two Truths and a Lie.

Heading into the 2024 season, there were two major question marks surrounding Jake Retzlaff:

Could he protect the football better than a year ago?
Could he throw the ball more accurately and consistently?

After an ugly game against SMU, the same questions surrounded Jake Retzlaff. As the game accelerated for Retzlaff, the old problems resurfaced.

First, the turnovers. Retzlaff had two fumbles and two interceptions against SMU. Retzlaff fumbled on the first drive of the game. The play was a designed run, but the offense wasn’t on the same page and Retzlaff happened to be the running back. For the second time in as many weeks, Retzlaff fumbled on the first drive of the game. SMU recovered the fumble in BYU territory.

Later, Retzlaff lost some concentration and dropped a catchable snap. On that occasion, BYU recovered.

On the first drive of the second half, Retzlaff tried to do too much and threw an interception while trying to get out of a sack. Regardless of the circumstances, that interception was unacceptable. BYU was within field goal range with a chance to take a lead. Instead of surviving to play another day, Retzlaff jeopardized the game by attempting that pass.

After BYU’s defense threw an interception in the fourth quarter, Retzlaff threw another interception that could have cost BYU the game.

There were three different turnovers that could have cost BYU the game, but the BYU defense stopped SMU at every turn. That’s an unfair expectation to place on the BYU defense going forward. It has to get better.

Accuracy issues also continue to be a concern for Retzlaff. His final stat line wasn’t terrible, but it didn’t tell the whole story. He finished the game 15/28 for 202 yards, 1 touchdown, and 2 interceptions. Most concerning, in this author’s opinion, were signs of the accuracy issues that plagued Retzlaff in 2023.

The biggest miss of the day was when Retzlaff missed a wide open Keelan Marion for the potential go-ahead touchdown. Retzlaff could have put the ball anywhere in the middle of the field and let Marion run underneath. Instead, Retzlaff missed wide right and Marion couldn’t adjust and make the catch. That’s a play he has to make.

If Retzlaff can’t protect the ball, BYU has to go to someone else in the room. Simply put, the pros didn’t outweigh the cons against the Mustangs. Retzlaff proved he can be good when he’s under control in week one. In week two, he proved he’s not ready to play under control against P4 competitors. The turnovers are too much to overcome when the game speeds up.

Retzlaff improved during fall camp when play slowed down for him. Maybe live games against P4 teams will slow him down in the future, but right now he’s playing at an accelerated pace.

If, and this is a big if at this point, Retzlaff can handle the ball well, he can get BYU back to bowl eligibility. If he can’t, BYU will struggle to win more than a game or two in conference play. Therefore, BYU will have to let Retzlaff go if he continues to be careless with the ball.

Once starting running back L.J. Martin left the game, BYU’s offense began to falter. The next four BYU drives went like this:

3 plays, -12 yards – Point
3 plays, 6 yards – Point
3 plays, 4 yards – Punt
4 plays, 7 yards – Turnover on Downs

Without Martin in the lineup, BYU’s offense regressed to its 2023 level.

Even without the benefit of hindsight, it was questionable when BYU didn’t bring in a transfer running back to replace Aidan Robbins. L.J. Martin is a starting-caliber running back in the Big 12, but for a position as demanding as running back, P4 teams need at least 2-3 running backs to survive a season.

BYU moved forward with Martin, leaning on Hinckley Ropati as backup. Now, with the benefit of hindsight, the decision not to bring in another running back could cost BYU a game or two.

LJ Martin’s injury status is one of the top two or three storylines after the win over SMU. BYU needs Martin to either get healthy or find a way to run the ball effectively with someone else.

There’s no way around it — BYU’s offense was bad against SMU. Turnovers, three-and-outs, miscommunication — everything. It wasn’t good. However, BYU’s offense is still showing signs of improvement compared to 2023.

That’s not saying much — the 2023 offense left a low bar to clear. Still, even small improvements from 2023 could be enough to get BYU back to the postseason.

Let’s talk about a few areas where BYU’s offense has shown signs of improvement. The game against Southern Illinois was a step up from the 2023 win over Southern Utah. In that win over SUU, BYU narrowly outrebounded the Thunderbirds 394-346. In the win over Southern Illinois to kick off the 2024 season, the Cougars outrebounded the Salukis 527-231. That’s progress. BYU handled a 2024 SIU team that is better than the 2023 Southern Utah team.

BYU averaged 5.25 yards per play against SMU. That would have been one of the top three offensive outputs against FBS teams in 2023. BYU averaged 5.75 yards per play and 5.57 yards per play against Oklahoma and Cincinnati, respectively. Every other game in 2023, at least in terms of yards per play, has been worse than Friday night’s game against SMU.

To give credit where credit is due, SMU is not a bad defense. The Mustangs finished 11th nationally in scoring defense last year. They have a strong defensive line that will send a few players to the NFL. While they are not as good as BYU made them look on Friday, they do deserve credit for slowing down BYU’s offensive attack. The Mustangs will challenge some offensive attacks in the ACC this season.

Yes, the offense wasn’t great, but there are still signs that BYU can be better on offense in 2024 than it was in 2023. It’s not time to panic yet. It’s been a long time since BYU’s offense has faced a defense as talented as SMU’s and it showed. If BYU can take care of the ball and convert more of its chances than it did against SMU, the defense has shown it’s good enough to win some games.