Some national analysts have been bearish on BYU since the Cougars lost veteran quarterback Jake Retzlaff for the 2025 season. FOX analyst Joel Klatt is one of them. On Monday, Klatt released a podcast that listed five programs he is buying stock in for 2025 and five programs he is selling. BYU was one of the five programs that Klatt is selling.
“I think this is an easy sell, unfortunate for this program.” Klatt said on BYU. “With everything that’s going on this summer, you look back and it’s like they start 9-0 last year. They’ve got CFP in their sights. They lose two of their last three in the regular season. They beat Colorado in the bowl game. A lot of people high on them in the offseason, but part of that was the fact that they felt like with Jake Retzlaf back on offense, they could handle some of the losses on the defensive side. I love Kalani Sitake. Again, this is not indicative of like an overall program decline. It’s just indicative of terrible timing at the most important position on the field. “
Klatt was referencing BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff’s decision to withdraw from school earlier this month. Retzlaff broke the university honor code violation and was suspended for a portion of the 2025 season. Instead of serving the suspension, Retzlaff opted to finish his college career elsewhere. On Monday, Retzlaff committed to Tulane.
Klatt continued, “[Jake Retzlaff] is a guy that on the field was steady. He was a good leader for them from last year. They believed in him and now all of a sudden you lose your quarterback and the three-man battle has had no time to develop…in total they have 12 total quarterback starts at the college level, 0 at the power 4 level. That’s tough. It’s really tough to overcome that. They’re replacing 8 starters on defense. That was a defense that was excellent last year. The schedule isn’t bad, but it’s again just like all the other Big 12 schedules, you’re facing a bunch of teams with similar talent and you’re probably going to be in a one-score game with a quarterback that has no experience. So again, not indicative of where this program is at overall. I love Kalani Sitaki. Everything he stands for and represents. I like this program, but for 2025, this is an easy sell.”
BYU went into the 2024 season with very low expectations. The Cougars surpassed all expectations by going 11-2 including a 9-0 start. One year later, it looked like BYU was going to go into 2025 with a target on their back. Now, BYU might be flying under the radar once again.
