Jake Retzlaff and John Nelson | BYU Football | Postgame | Southern Illinois | August 31, 2024

think of your performance uh pretty Flawless touchdowns 303 48 uh what you think of the offense and your performance particular uh it was a lot of fun to play football again uh that's what I got to say about it the guys around me played incredible uh at every position the running backs ran the ball really well today I think we ran for what 170 something like that 500 total yards of offense 527 that's a total team effort if I've ever heard of one so um uh I thought I played pretty well I got to wash the tape to really find out but uh the guys around me played really well tonight and I'm proud of them on that opening drive you had two two different times on fourth down where you threw a pass to get a first down kept the drive wide and you guys ended up getting a touchdown uh do you feel like that that that's those sequences kind of set the tone for you guys on offense you were able to grind out a 13-play drive gets score uh I mean that's just our offense from day one we go by the book um a is strict to that thing because it's it's proven to work and so uh I just hope to never see the punt team or the or the field goal team run on the field and uh love to go forth on fourth down I've always love to go for on fourth down high school ball my high school coach is super aggressive we always went for it uh junior college same thing so I love that A-Rod that's the same mentality for him and the guys love it too because that just shows his belief in us and uh it's a lot of fun to be able to just have a coordinator who believes in you like that uh and have a team who can perform like that speaking forward um you want to know how long we we successfully kept it under wraps uh uh what was it last middle of last week so when we kind of officially ended Camp stuff and started prepping for Southern Illinois for you how did that maybe instill some confidence and maybe change or uh validate you know what you felt about yourself and how you performed um you know when you win any job when you win any competition makes you feel good about yourself um but you can't just sit there and feel good about yourself we had a game to win and so it really just got down to preparation and uh having a guy like Gary in the room is awesome for that he's a veteran he's done it so many ways he's a heck of a ball player and so having him in that room is so valuable to me John what was this week was a little unique with having J Hill situation what was that like for the defense yeah um we uh we came in and got the news uh yesterday and we were all kind of you know really shocked and surprised you know he's you know he's we're Super Active and super uh always always involved in everything we do and so to get that news of of him going through that was you know was was uh devastating say the least and a lot of guys offense and defense rallied around uh the idea that you know he he pours you know his heart and soul into this program believes in us so we better you know play our hearts out for him and so uh yeah so we um he wanted us to you know you know not play the game any different or or do any special you know anything anything crazy he's just like you should go out and play do your thing and uh I think uh yeah it was it was good to have that and I reminded the boys while we were playing that you know we we got you know some special circumstances going on so it was it was a it was a little bit of a setback but I'm I'm proud of the guys and how they played through it what does it mean for was made of increasing physicality in the trenches on that regard how do you feel like you guys did and uh also so what was the problem with containing the quarterback yeah um we we had some runs get away from us uh I mean they they had to run their quarterback which you know was a risky decision obviously paid off for him um there was a there was a couple times where um you know we'd get him on third long and then quarterback goes out for a scramble we're kind of in our drop eight so there was there were some things where you know we as three defensive lineman playing and that we got to do better of knowing when the draw is coming or knowing how to contain the quarterback and and uh yeah that was I mean it's it's it's first game stuff you know a little bit uh it it uh it comes with the game a little bit so um I think I think we'll you know watch film and get better and practice it throughout the week just going to ask what it was like to have Jay here and have him show up to the game and what talking about after what you've been through what was it like for him to be here yeah it was it was incredible I mean it just you know that's just the kind of guy he is he you know he's always telling us to be tough and you know tough guys do this and you know for him to have a heart attack and then make it the game you know the next day is pretty pretty tough in my opinion so having him there I mean it was it was awesome he was sitting down or whatever and he was you know had a you know shook hands with him told him you thinking about him praying about him so he uh he knows the deal and he's going to continue to try his best even though he's got something going on so he's going to find a way to to coach us the best way he can did he say anything to you guys before the game when he came out onto the field did you get a chance to talk to him yeah we just uh shook hands a little bit you after uh after our warm-up the whole team kind of went over and you know 80 guys are trying to shake his hand so you know shook his hand told him I was you know praying for him looking out for him and you know he was he was you know kind of talking to everybody but yeah just seeing him there on the field with us it was it was really motivating did any meetings get uh rescheduled or changed on Friday once you heard out the news or did everything stay on on schedule even without him yeah I mean we we met as a defense real quick and just you know addressed you know the the elephant in the room and basically said that you know the defensive staff is GNA take care of sorry and take care of the play calling and uh they uh they did a job you know really good job tonight I mean all the guys you know on the defensive staff have coached and played in the defense that we're running so um all the calls were you know in on time and there's clear communication it was actually you know it was actually incredible how you know how fast and how you know precise the calls were so um to see that go down without you know the coordinator just his Testament to kind of how you know they run things and kind of the system that we're we're playing with Jake you had eight big plays in the air was you know stretching the field a big Focus for you and your growth this this season uh I think the opposite to be honest with you um I've always been aggressive the way I play and um we knew coming into this game that we'd have a couple AB couple chances to take shots down field and um obviously it was fun to get that first one of Jojo and and then Keelan later on and a bunch of the other ones throughout the day and uh but I mean we were ready to take shots I mean you asked those receivers they were excited for this game plan for this week uh and it just goes to show those guys worked hard this off season worked hard in Camp to get that stuff down and you know big plays make offense a lot easier 13 play drives are really hard uh having won in scor a touchdown is unbelievable um we ate up a lot of game clock in that in that drive but but they don't happen very often and so have be able to have those big plays to shorten those drives uh makes a huge difference of a validation how much of validation was this performance for from the progress you guys have made as an offense from last season um it it is I would say um but we knew who we are we're confident in ourselves everybody in that offense knows what we can do I think there a validation more for you guys than anything um because because we're confident in our abilities and and those guys go went out there and played played just as good as they knew they would play and um so I'm super proud of those guys for being able to do that thanks