After BYU made quick work of Wyoming last week, we dove into the essence of the Jake Retzlaff experience.

It’s a high-wire act of sorts — living and dying with a quarterback who can both elevate BYU beyond its talent means or send it into a spiral of turnovers and miscues.

In an ideal world, BYU could have a more stable player leading the way. But, as head coach Kalani Sitake indicated in Laramie, riding with Retzlaff might just be the deal BYU needs to make to get to a bowl game this year.

And on Monday, one of Retzlaff’s receivers added to the discourse.

Parker Kingston acknowledged there have been some mistakes — Retzlaff has the most giveaways in college football since taking over as the starter — but he said he was fully behind his leader.

“Obviously, he still has some throws [that are poor], but every quarterback has one. He’s looking good and I’m riding with him,” Kingston said. “We are all ride-or-die with Jake.”

Kingston went out of his way to address the Darius Lassiter situation. Lassiter came off the field in the second quarter frustrated with Retzlaff. He overthrew him on a ball that might have been a touchdown if he put in the right spot, Retzlaff said.

“Obviously there was a little, I don’t know, controversy with Darius and Jake last week. I don’t know, I think they were just fine. I think that was just what the outside was projecting,” Kingston said.

It’s another data point to BYU’s most polarizing discussion.

“Being a quarterback at BYU, you get a lot of attention good and bad,” head coach Kalani Sitake said. “We need Jake to be at his best. But I like that his comfort level [is growing] and he’s feeling a little more settled [in the role].”

Now, the real test for Retzlaff starts this week. The Retzlaff experience pays off if BYU can start winning multiple games in the Big 12 — knocking off teams because of the quarterback’s playmaking ability. If not, the turnovers could get old quickly.

The Big Thing

We touched on it a little bit last week, but maybe it’s worth spending more time this week. BYU’s third down conversion rate has been low the last two games — converting four of its last 24 attempts on the critical down.

And yes, you can argue it hasn’t affected BYU too much. The Cougars go for it so often on fourth that really the conversion down is often fourth down, not third down. Against Wyoming, BYU was 5-for-11 in conversion down situations.

But still, the third-down production is something BYU can look at. More so, it can be examined through the lens of its third-down distance. BYU’s average third-down was 6.7 yards against Wyoming. Against SMU, it shot up to 7.2 yards. That might not be sustainable in the Big 12 — even for a team that likes to go for it.

“I’m not super concerned in the sense that we are always operating with that fourth down in mind, depending on where we are on the field,” center Connor Pay said. “But we need to do a better job on first and second down so we are not in as third and long. Because if the number we are trying to get to for fourth down is two or three yards, third and seven, third and eight it can be kind of tough to get there.”

We’ve seen it come back to hurt BYU at times. When it is backed up in its own territory or too far on fourth, it has to punt instead of using the extra down. It had three 3-and-outs Saturday after recording six in Dallas.

Right now, the Cougars are 118th in third down conversion rate (28%). Only Houston and West Virginia are worse in the Big 12.

“We just got to be more clean. Clean up the third down percentages,” wide receiver Keelan Marion said in Wyoming last week. “Get back on Monday and do some third down periods and correct the little mistakes. Get some more touches with Jake.”

Offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick said he isn’t overly concerned either.

“I mean I would like to convert a few more third downs, but often on third down we are playing for a manageable fourth down or a short fourth down,” he said. “Knowing we have a lot of confidence in our fourth down plays. So third and eight is hard to get. But if you can make four or five years and be fourth and three or two, then your odds of converting that are a lot higher.”

Again, third down conversions aren’t the end of the world for this group, but the first- and second-down production is something to look at as BYU sees better defenses.

Question of the Week

Last week, we asked you if BYU losing its two running backs was going to be a problem in Laramie.

40 percent of you said it was going to be a big issue. Another 40 percent said it was no big deal. So it was split.

Turns out, the results of the game were split too. BYU didn’t run the ball dynamically with Miles Davis (eight carries for 15 yards). But it did win without needing too much in terms of chunk yardage.

This week, we’ll open this up for discussion: Will BYU get over two wins in the Big 12 this season? Email me at kreynolds@sltrib.com.

Fourth down

1. The youth movement takes a step

It is nice to get blowout wins for multiple reasons. The biggest one these days is allowing BYU to get some younger players reps. If you look at the fourth quarter against Wyoming, BYU’s defense was littered with players of its future: Tre Alexander, Faletau Satuala, Jonathan Kabeya, and Ephraim Asiata all got snaps.

Last year, BYU couldn’t really do that. This year, it is going to help build the depth of the future. Wyoming did score on that final drive they played, but Sitake was fine with it.

“I wasn’t pleased we gave up points and a lot yardage [on the last drive], but it’s what we needed to get those guys valuable experience,” Sitake said. “It was worth the sacrifice of yards. It’ll pay off.”

2. Avery Johnson problem

Avery Johnson is K-State’s dynamic dual-threat quarterback. He rushed for over 100 yards against Arizona and threw for 151.

It might be the worst-case scenario for this BYU defense. Although Jay Hill’s unit has played well, it’s largest weakness so far has been the quarterback run game. The Wildcats might exploit all of BYU’s largest deficiencies.

3. Chase Roberts thought

Roberts put on plenty of muscle this offseason, and it has looked great for two of the last three weeks. He had over 120 yards receiving against Wyoming and had similar success against Southern Illinois. He was able to out-physical defenders in one-on-one matchups in those games — his biggest deficiency in year’s past was getting separation in press man, he said.

My only question is, can we see it translate against Power Four physicality? Against SMU, he was mostly quiet — going two catches for 26 yards. BYU really needs him to be that top target who Retzlaff can lean on. Will it show up against Kansas State? It certainly did last week.

4. Micah Harper question

Harper was banged up and didn’t play against Wyoming. He was dressed, but stood on the sidelines. I asked Sitake this week about his availability, and he said he was fine.

But if he’s not, a player that has stepped up in the secondary is Crew Wakley. He was a starter last year who was one of BYU’s best tacklers, and it was odd to see him listed in the fourth-string to start the year. But already — starting in the SMU game — he’s back to taking significant snaps.

- That’s it from me! Talk to you after Kansas State.

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