3 keys to BYU’s season-opening win over Southern Illinois

The Cougars are in the win column.
BYU kicked off its 2024 campaign with a compelling 41-13 victory over Southern Illinois Saturday night in Provo.
Here are three keys to the Cougars’ Saturday success against the Salukis.
It’s hard to imagine a better season debut for Jake Retzlaff.
The Cougars’ newly-minted QB1 — he was publicly announced as BYU’s starter about an hour before kickoff Saturday — turned in a brilliant effort en route to his first career win under center.
Retzlaff threw for a personal-best 348 yards with three touchdowns, completing 67% of his passes along with a 197.1 rating. He was near-flawless in executing Aaron Roderick’s offense, connecting with 10 different receivers and leading the Cougars to their first 500-yard showing since 2022.
BYU’s ground game was a major weakness throughout the 2023 campaign, but against Southern Illinois, the Cougars churned for 179 rushing yards and two touchdowns on a whopping 47 carries.
Pounding the rock allowed BYU to dominate in the clock department — the Cougars logged just under 40 minutes of possession — while also opening up space all over the field for Retzlaff to attack through the air.
LJ Martin and Hinckley Ropati shared the majority of the load by combining for 26 carries and 124 yards at nearly a 4.8 yards per carry average, and both found the end zone for rushing touchdowns as well.
It was a clean, efficient outing for the Cougars, who managed seven scoring drives, only punted twice and didn’t cough up a single turnover.
Additionally, BYU was penalized just three times for 15 yards. Head coach Kalani Sitake’s squad scored on five of six red zone appearances — with the lone failure coming on a missed field goal — and held Southern Illinois to a 4 of 12 mark on third down.