There is a lot of excitement surrounding BYU’s football program as the Cougars are ranked No. 22 nationally and are 4-0 after a blowout win over then-No. 13 Kansas State last week at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

Next up is a trip to Waco, Texas this week as the Cougars take on Baylor looking for their first-ever win at McLane Stadium.

With the undefeated start, the Cougars are receiving a lot of national attention as they have exceeded expectations and are tied with rival Utah at the top of the Big 12.

Big 12 Football Predictions: Week 5

Jake Retzlaff interview

In conversation is BYU starting quarterback Jake Retzlaff, who was a guest on the show “All Facts No Brakes” with NFL legend Keyshawn Johnson to talk about his historic journey as the first Jewish starting QB at BYU.

The interview touches on a number of topics, including the unique dynamic of leading a team where some of his teammates are already married and how he handles the pressure of leading the Cougars to a 4-0 start. Jake shares insight into his personal faith, overcoming challenges, and the importance of playing QB at BYU.

Keyshawn Johnson: You’re the guy at BYU. You got your chance to be the starting QB. What is it like to play and be in Provo?

Jake Retzlaff: Provo is a destination stadium. If you haven’t been there yet, you need to go. The way this place rocked last Saturday night against Kansas State was second to none. I challenge any other stadium atmosphere with ours in the country. It’s different and then you can look out at the mountains and the scenery is second to none. Being a quarterback here is a dream.

No. 22 BYU vs. Baylor: Preview, Prediction and Betting Lines

Keyshawn Johnson: How did they (coaches) convince you to come to BYU? What did they say to persuade you to visit?

Jake Retzlaff: Put yourself in my shoes. You’re a quarterback with the ambition to play at this level, play at a high level, do great things in college football and then go to the NFL. And then you saw that they got Zach Wilson, who was drafted No. 2 overall, and then Jaren Hall, who was drafted a year later… and who was about to be drafted when they recruited me. And then throw it back to Steve Young, Jim McMahon and Ty Detmer. Quarterbacks have a lot of success here and it’s a tradition at BYU. So how can you look at that and say, “Yeah, I know this isn’t a great opportunity for me to go there and just be super successful.”

This is what it did for me. Both the tradition, the old history with all the greats and all of recent history. I know coaches Aaron Roderick as OC and Kalani can develop quarterbacks at the next level. I’m also going to the Big 12. … With so many options, how can you say no to something like this?

Keyshawn Johnson Jr: You may be the biggest surprise of the season so far. 4-0 and ranked No. 22 in the nation. You were ranked 13th in the conference in the Big 12 media. How much do you think you’ve improved compared to the first four games now and the last four games of last season?

Jake Retzlaff: Definitely a bunch. In any case, understanding and comfort within the offense and the guys around me is a big thing. This offense is pretty deep, so it’s difficult to be a first-year quarterback, but being a second-year quarterback is really fun and makes a lot of big plays. I think the whole team has made so much progress in so many ways and it’s been a lot of fun just being a part of it. And the boys have a different attention to detail this year. It was a surprise to all the media and the like in the country, but it wasn’t a surprise to the guys in the locker room. We knew we had something special here, and we also know we’re not done yet. We also know that we will beat a top 13 team in the country at home. On a grand scale. We presented it to them. And we’re still only number 22 in the country. You’d think if we beat a team in the top 13 we’d be in the top 20. But no, there’s still not enough respect. And that’s why we play with that chip on our shoulder. We were picked to win 4 1/2 games and we have already won 4. After this week, we can suppress that win total with seven more games to go. This is no surprise to us. It’s fun to silence everyone. And hearing all the hate. It’s fun.

Big 12 Football Predictions: Week 5

Keyshawn Johnson: How much pressure do you feel, if any? Do you feel like there’s pressure to continue to be successful or do you think we can handle it whatever comes?

Jake Retzlaff: I mean, at any level of sport there is always pressure. And like I said, because we were chosen to do nothing, it’s just so much fun to go out week after week and prove everyone wrong. Last week against Kansas State, I was surprised that we weren’t double-digit underdogs like we were against SMU earlier in the season.

Even this week before Baylor, we’re still underdogs. So people still didn’t respect us. We take everything as it comes. We don’t feel any pressure because we believe in ourselves. We’re not nervous because we know what we have in our dressing room. The guys around us can do it in so many ways. We were able to score points in so many facets of the game. Our defense is playing incredible. Our defense is in the top 15 and top 5 in many defensive categories. It was fun winning all those games and it will be even more fun to win many more games like we did. We know what we have in our dressing room, so we don’t feel any pressure due to outside expectations, we are just confident in what we have.

Above is the full video interview where Jake Retzlaff talks about his experience at BYU. The interview starts at 3:42 p.m.

Retzlaff is looking to lead No. 22 BYU to its first 5-0 start since 2021, when the Cougars went 10-3 and were ranked No. 19 in the latest AP poll.

For the Cougars, winless in their last 10 morning/day games, playing on the road with an early start hasn’t been great, and Retzlaff and his team are looking to finally end that streak. Here’s your BYU-Baylor preview.

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No. 22 BYU vs. Baylor: Preview, Prediction and Betting Lines