BREAKING: BYU football hired Fomer Alabama Star A.J. McMcarron as new Offensive Coordinator…
BREAKING: BYU football hired Fomer Alabama Star A.J. McMcarron as new Offensive Coordinator…
BREAKING: BYU football hired Fomer Alabama Star A.J. McMcarron as new Offensive Coordinator…
How Jewish QB Jake Retzlaff became the face, and the voice, of BYU’s undefeated football team
Junior from Southern California is a big reason why the Cougars are 8-0 and favored to beat the Utes Saturday in SLC..
After attending his first BYU football game, a 38-9 Cougars rout of No. 13 Kansas State on Sept. 21, local Rabbi Chaim Zippel snapped a quick photo of himself and BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff at LaVell Edwards Stadium.
The friends held up a T-shirt proclaiming Retzlaff as the “BYJew,” a nickname Retzlaff gave himself days after getting to BYU in 2023.
Then Rabbi Zippel posted it on X, the social networking service formerly known as Twitter.
Then the photo went viral. As of Oct. 31, it had received more than 5 million views.
Since then, that T-shirt and others created by Rabbi Zippel and the Chabad of Utah County that he established nearly two years ago in Lehi have been sold by the thousands, and Retzlaff’s national notoriety as the first Jewish quarterback at a school supported and sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has reached epic proportions.
“It has been crazy,” Rabbi Zippel told the Deseret News on Monday. “It has almost become a full-time focus for me. It has been nothing short of amazing.”
Imagine what it has been like for Retzlaff, then. The junior college transfer from Corona, California, who was in a tight battle with Gerry Bohanon to be BYU’s starting quarterback last August, is suddenly the face, and the voice, of BYU’s No. 9-ranked football team.
The Cougars, and their Jewish quarterback, have become a national story, thanks to the uniqueness of the religious partnership and Retzlaff’s success. Once ranked by Pro Football Focus (PFF) as the worst starting QB in the Big 12, he’s now being talked about as a Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year candidate, a possibility if the Cougars (8-0) keep winning.
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College Football Playoff Rankings: Oregon remains on top; BYU falls eight spots
Updated Nov 19, 2024 7:48 pm EST
The third set of College Football Playoff rankings for the 2024 season were released Tuesday night. The Oregon Ducks, sitting at 11-0 overall and 8-0 in Big Ten play, maintain the No. 1 spot in the rankings, while Ohio State stays listed at No. 2, and Texas at No. 3.
The Ducks and Buckeyes have been ranked No. 1 and 2, respectively, in all three CFP reveals, while the Longhorns moved into the No. 3 spot last week and maintained the spot after a 20-10 win over SEC foe Arkansas this past weekend. Steve Sarkisian’s team is 9-1 on the season, with its lone loss coming against Georgia back in Week 8.
Penn State, fresh off a dominant 49-0 win over Purdue, is ranked No. 4, while fellow Big Ten member Indiana, sitting at 10-0 heading into a massive Big Ten showdown against Ohio State this weekend (Noon ET on FOX and the FOX Sports App), rounds out the top five.
Here is a look at the third set of CFP rankings:
