Provo • When Jake Retzlaff finally exhaled, about an hour after the most thrilling play of his life, his eyes wandered onto a picture.
Outside BYU’s locker room, the walls are lined with photos from memorable wins. As Retzlaff sipped on water, trying to calm down, he gazed at the frame of another Cougar quarterback, Jaren Hall, darting through Utah’s defense back in 2021.
A part of modern BYU lore.
What he had just done on Friday night will soon be framed next to that photo.
“That was out-of-body,” Retzlaff said. “That is something people will be talking about for a long time.”
With BYU’s dream of an undefeated season on life support, Retzlaff led the No. 13 Cougars 75 yards down the field in just over a minute to knock off Oklahoma State 38-35.
In the span of eight fateful plays, he picked up a fourth down-and-seven to Chase Roberts to keep the drive alive. He turned upfield for a 27-yard rush to set up the final play. And then he danced, with 10 seconds left, until he saw his favorite target Darius Lassiter find the smallest sliver of daylight. He fired a 35-yard touchdown to win the game.
Lassiter made two men miss and then danced his way to a 7-0 record.
At that moment, you could be forgiven for believing BYU was a team of destiny.
“That was a spiritual experience,” Retzlaff said.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Brigham Young Cougars wide receiver Darius Lassiter (5) eludes the Oklahoma State Cowboys defense for a touchdown in the final seconds of game play for a 38-35 win to remain undefeated in Provo on Friday, Oct. 18, 2024.
Before that moment, it looked like BYU had finally run out of its magic.
Those turnovers that coordinator Jay Hill’s defense always seems to come up with right on cue just weren’t coming.
Instead, the Pokes had the Cougars in fits. Oklahoma State ran for 269 yards and it was gashing the defense from every position. Ollie Gordon II had 127 total yards and three touchdowns. Quarterbacks Garret Rangel and Alan Bowman combined for 96 more yards.
Even as Rangel went out and Gordon II was hampered, BYU couldn’t get the Cowboys off the field in the fourth quarter. Oklahoma State marched down with a 17-play, 76-yard drive that ate up 8:22 late in the game.
The Cowboys picked up three third-down conversions and two fourth-downs. It ended with the potential game-winning touchdown to Brennan Presley with 1:10 left.
“We kept getting close to stopping them, but couldn’t get off the field,” BYU linebacker Isaiah Glasker said.
And without Hill’s unit creating havoc, it felt over. Retzlaff was struggling at 9-of-20 with two interceptions. Lassiter, the man he so often looks for, was in the training tent for a shoulder injury he re-aggravated.
“I knew I wasn’t sitting out the rest of the game,” Lassiter said. “I just had to toughen it up.”
Toughen up, maybe. But that next sequence felt beyond anybody’s control.
Just that morning, BYU walked through its two-minute script. Almost all of the plays that unfolded, they had prepped for. And the others ...
“There are certain points where you just got to see the field,” Retzlaff said.
That is what he did. On his 27-yard rush, he saw the safeties drop all the way back and he took off even as the time ticked down.
“I remember seeing a lot of space in front of me. Then I saw the linebackers trying to cut me off going to the sideline,” he said. “Just take the yards.”
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Brigham Young Cougars quarterback Jake Retzlaff (12) makes the game winning pass in the final seconds of the game for a 38-35 win over the Oklahoma State Cowboys in Provo on Friday, Oct. 18, 2024.
And then on the final play, Retzlaff was actually looking for JoJo Phillips streaking open. But at the last second, he saw Lassiter cutting free and trusted it.
“We knew maybe [the wide receiver could] cut underneath [the safety] and I could fit it between the linebackers. I don’t know, bro,” Retzlaff said in shock. “That is a bunch of football jargon. I just saw him cutting open and I threw him the ball.”
Lassiter couldn’t explain it either.
“I don’t know who he is throwing this to, but I’m finna make a play,” he said.
It didn’t matter. LaVell Edwards Stadium went into a frenzy. As Retzlaff walked off the field, he saw his offensive lineman Weylin Lapiou in tears. Injured center Connor Pay was crying.
Lassiter himself went into a state of shock.
“After I did my celebration I kind of just blacked out. Emotions are all over the place,” he said.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) BYU football coach Kalani Sitake celebrates the teams 38-35 win over the Oklahoma State Cowboys to remain undefeated in Provo on Friday, Oct. 18, 2024.
BYU is now undefeated and threatening to be ranked inside the top 10. At 7-0, it looks like the path to the Big 12 title game in Arlington is opening up. Is this season destined to end somewhere much greater?
“I don’t know,” head coach Kalani Sitake said. “I don’t want to categorize it right now or define it that way. You can see when teams find a way to win. But you have to work. We have to go back to work. Just be humble and work every week.”
Still, for one night, this team can celebrate something special.
“It’s magical,” Retzlaff said. “How can you not be romantic about this game?”
It’s a photo that is going up on the wall one day and a memory that will last even longer.
