“Three months to Boulder” feels like the title of a vintage war movie starring Charles Bronson and his Dirty Dozen. But this is no Hollywood screen play. For BYU, the Cougars have three months to get a new quarterback ready to fight in one of college football’s most electrifying battle grounds — Folsom Field.
With the biggest story of the offseason shifting gears from Jake Retzlaff’s legal battles to BYU’s new quarterback, time is of the essence. As Retzlaff heads into the transfer portal, whoever his replacement is has 13 Saturdays before the Cougars open Big 12 play at Colorado (Sept. 27).
That gives him July, which is typically a month of downtime and relaxation before the team reports to camp on July 29, fall practice in August and three nonconference games to learn the script and get his act together.Based on how the team played last year, it is clear that the program is built to win with defense and special teams,” said Nelson, who started 19 games at BYU (2009-12) and threw for 4,032 yards and 35 touchdowns. He also rushed for 858 yards and six touchdowns.
“For a quarterback to be ready in these circumstances, he needs to be able to orchestrate the offense, limit negative plays and outcomes, and lead the offensive unit psychologically and emotionally,” he explained. “Three months is enough time to do those things effectively.”
Is it enough time? Former BYU quarterback Riley Nelson says “Absolutely!”
Western Michigan transfer Treyson Bourguet, Utah State transfer McCae Hillstead, who both arrived at BYU last year, will duke it out with four-star high school prospect Bear Bachmeier for the starting job. Bourguet is bigger (6-foot-2, 210 pounds), Hillstead is faster (5-10, 190 pounds) and Bachmeier may be better than both, but he is fresh out of high school.
