I know Cougar nation is skeptical of Jake Retzlaff. I get it. He went 0-4 last year and played erratic at times, with a poor completion % and some back-breaking, sloppy turnovers.

But does anybody remember John Beck’s first 4 starts? Beck struggled a lot as a freshman and even as a sophomore. That’s just one example of a QB needing some time to figure things out.

The question is, can Retzlaff figure it out and improve dramatically? Does he have the talent and the tools to make that happen? I believe he does.

If you watch the tape against Oklahoma you will see a lot of his tools on display. I went back and watched the below linked video multiple times and came away feeling he can get much better.

See below link and time stamp notes for a breakdown of a bunch of plays that flash Retzlaff’s talent and potential:

Retzlaff vs OU

Final stats: 15/26 (57.6%), 173 yards, 2 TD-1 INT. 29 yds rushing, 1 TD. 2 lost fumbles.

**4 drops on good catchable balls. Should have been 19/26 (73.1%).

:19 RPO keeper for 12 yards and 1st down

:36 RPO pass to Epps, off platform throw, Epps YAC for 20 yards

:59 RPO pass to Epps. Epps with YAC for 15 yards

1:08 from the pocket reads a soft spot in coverage and throws a downfield laser to the outside hash to Roberts, 23 yard TD pass.

1:32 nice accurate short pass with some heat to Epps for a big 3rd down conversion.

1:56 absolutely gorgeous over the shoulder dime to Roberts for 20 yards. Beautifully placed ball.

2:30 off platform short TD pass to Rex

3:06 clutch 4th down completion for 10 yards to Roberts. Accurate, hard throw on 2nd read.

4:50 RPO keeper 1st down run for 12 yards

5:25 rolling right, nice throw on the run to convert a 4th down with a big YAC gain to Epps

5:46 RPO keeper 11 yard TD run

https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=dnb0p6yY5t6hbkAI&v=QPWOpxtyAsM&feature=youtu.be