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PROVO — Jake Retzlaff couldn't keep the smile off his face.
The BYU starting quarterback — yeah, he can admit that now — had just come off the game of his life in a 41-13 win over FCS foe Southern Illinois, earning his first victory as a Division I starter and officially snapping a five-game losing skid from lasts year's inaugural season in the Big 12 campaign.
There will be plenty of mistakes to fix, miscues to clean up, and film to break down if the Cougars (1-0) want to build on Saturday night's season opener against the No. 11 ranked team in the FCS. But for now, Retzlaff is making sure to enjoy a win — one that had become all-too difficult to attain since he arrived at BYU as the No. 1-rated junior college quarterback in the country.
For now, Retzlaff passed the test, or maybe even two of them, going back to the time he knew he had won the starting job over Baylor and USF transfer Gerry Bohanon Jr. until the first snaps of Saturday's pregame.
"You want to know how long we successfully kept it under wraps?" he said with a grin. "What was it, middle of last week, when we officially ended camp and started prepping for Southern Illinois."
Retzlaff was at the best of his young BYU career, when the 6-foot-1 redshirt junior threw for a career-high 348 yards and three touchdowns on 20-of-30 passing, finishing with a career-best passer rating of 197.1.
It's the best passer rating by a BYU quarterback since Jaren Hall, formerly of the Minnesota Vikings, posted a 216.6 against Utah Tech in 2022, and the first time Retzlaff cleard the 300-yard plateau since he did it 14 times at Golden West and Riverside City College.
He was slinging from the start, too. Retzlaff led scoring drives on four of his first six series against the Salukis — one of them also ended in a missed 36-yard field goal that Will Ferrin later pulled back with a career-long 50-yarder, as well.
He targeted 11 receivers on the night and hit 10 of them — the most for a BYU team since hitting the same mark against Oregon in 2022 — led by Chase Roberts' 108 yards on seven catches and two catches for 70 yards and a touchdown from redshirt freshman Jojo Phillips.
Retzlaff also ran eight times for 31 yards, and helped LJ Martin power to a 68-yard, one-touchdown game on 13 carries on the ground to go with another 7-yard touchdown pass out of the backfield. Folau Ropati also ran 13 times for 57 yards, and Miles Davis and Enoch Nawahine also saw time at running back.
The same offense scored a touchdown and a field goal in five possessions after opening the second half with back-to-back touchdowns. But the defense, with coordinator Jay Hill overlooking from atop LaVell Edwards Stadium after recovering from heart surgery the day before, held Southern Illinois to as many touchdowns as interceptions after the break to seal the win.
Retzlaff's aim was true more often than not as he finished the game without an interception, and BYU was plus-two in turnover margin while the quarterback finished with eight chunk yardage plays.
"He's just a tough kid," BYU coach Kalani Sitake said, noting that Bohanon will continue to play a role on the team. "He has an amazing work ethic and great abilities. I love the person that he is, and he just happens to play great football."
BYU was "ready to take shots" in the passing game, Retzlaff said, and an offense led by Martin, Ropati, and four returning starters on the offensive line in Connor Pay, Brayden Keim, Caleb Etienne and Weylin Lapuaho that ranked 118th nationally last year in rushing yards per game was eager to acquit itself — if even for just one night.
"We knew what we had, and that's why we decided to role with it," Martin said. "They were able to show it tonight, and we plan on showing it next week."
BYU will need to improve on Saturday's performance, though.
The Salukis are talented, ranked No. 11 nationally in the subdivision of college football beneath where the Cougars play, but were also replacing last year's starting quarterback, two running backs, two wide receivers and seven of the Salukis' top defensive players including leaders in tackles, sacks and interceptions, as noted by BYU Radio analyst Hans Olsen.
BYU opened as an 11-point underdog ahead of Friday's road trip to SMU, which is 2-0 after a 29-24 win at Nevada in Week 0 and a 59-7 blowout victory of FCS Houston Christian on Saturday.
The Mustangs, who are 0-4 all-time against BYU, are led by a returning starting quarterback in Preston Stone, who threw for 3,197 yards and 28 touchdowns in 12 games last year with a pass efficiency rating of 161.3.
But an early win may be just what the Cougars needed after struggling to end the 2023 season. If nothing else, a seemingly expected win over SIU should give BYU a bit of confidence ahead of Friday night (5 p.m. MDT, ESPN2).
"We knew who we are. We're confident in ourselves; everybody in that offense knows what we can do," Retzlaff said. "I think it's a validation more for you guys (the media) than anything. We know our abilities, and those guys went out there and played just as good as they knew they would play. I'm super proud of those guys for doing that."
