I like Jake Retzlaff. He is obviously a competitor. He says the right things. Gives his teammates credit. It is obvious he cares a lot about the team. He has a live arm and has talent and playmaking ability. The team may have rallied behind him in fall camp, and in a back-and-forth QB battle, that should have been enough to give him the starting nod. That being said, I truly hope that after yesterday, the coaches make clear to him that his leash is incredibly short.

A-rod's offense is built on ball possession and control. This is not an old BYU offense some on this board long for. We are not going be throwing the ball 45 times a game. It is not the identity of A-rod, or Kalani. This offense is at its best, and very hard to defend, when you have a semblance of a running game, misdirection with the fly sweep and counters, and play action off of both, with short passing and screen game mixed in. When run effectively, it can be an offense that is demoralizing to defend, because of clock control. When you have a good defense, it makes sense to run your offense this way.

If there is one skill that a QB needs to master running this offense (or frankly any offense, but particularly a ball control offense), it is ball security. It is completely demoralizing to every player on the team (and the fans, but who cares), when your QB is loose with the ball when he is tackled. Players will start to question themselves and question the QB. There are plenty of mistakes that can be dealt with and are ok to make that do not have the same effect as fumbling the football over and over and over again. You just cannot do it. It is a non-starter. If you can't hold on to the football as the QB on this offense, you can't play.

Jake can't hold onto the football. 9 fumbles in 6 starts is completely insane. I am not confident that this is something that he can learn, because I can guarantee that he and A-rod and others have had this conversation already. Guy has talent. He just can't possess the football.

This team will win more games with a game manager QB who has experience, who when tackled knows to secure the football. The offense can run effectively with that type of QB. The offense cannot function with a QB who continues to put the ball on the dirt.

I like Jake, I hope he figures it out. If he doesn't, I hope Gerry gets the call very soon.