BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff, a maker of miracles, stands among Cougar royalty after beating Utah

Steve Retzlaff stood motionless, looking out from a suite inside LaVell Edwards Stadium, the first time he saw a miracle happen.

His son, BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff, had just driven 75 yards down the field against Oklahoma State to bring BYU back from the dead with 10 seconds to play. Before the elder Retzlaff could fully process what he’d seen, LaVell Edwards’ son walked into the room, clasped his hand and issued a proclamation straight from BYU royalty.

“I’ve seen legends at this place,” the father recalled Edwards saying. “And that is how they are made.”

Fast forward three weeks and Steve Retzlaff was again recovering from a miracle. Only this time, he was at the 20-yard line of Rice-Eccles Stadium trying to make sense of something even more improbable.

“He was sacked in the end zone to lose the game,” Steve Retzlaff said, still almost in denial of what he just saw.

It was true: Jake Retzlaff was sacked. It was a turnover on downs. It was game over with a minute left and BYU down two.

Until a holding call gave BYU new life and wiped away the mistake.

Then Retzlaff conjured magic again. A 30-yard dart to Chase Roberts, a 12-yard pass to Darius Lassiter and all of a sudden BYU was kicking a walk-off field goal to beat Utah, 22-21, in a place no BYU quarterback has won in 18 years.

A 65-yard, 11-play drive that nearly never happened.

Utah athletic director Mark Harlan called it a stolen victory. Steve Retzlaff had a different take.

“I don’t believe in destiny, but how can you not?” Steve Retzlaff said.

Maybe it is time to believe. Because now BYU’s supernova quarterback has authored two game-winning drives when BYU’s win probability was less than 0.3%.

It is Retzlaff’s magic, or some otherworldly knack, that has BYU 9-0, on the fast track to the College Football Playoff and now all but guaranteed to make the Big 12 title game in Arlington.

And perhaps more immediately — as a sea of BYU fans chanted “Heisman” in Retzlaff‘s direction in the early minutes of Sunday morning — he’s become a BYU legend. There is no debate now, he’ll be talked about in the same breath as John Beck, Max Hall and Steve Sarkisian.

You beat Utah, in that fashion, and there is no question about it.

“People always ask me ‘What does it feel like? I don’t have the words,’” Steve Retzlaff said. “Awesome, great, wonderful. That’s not what it feels like. It is like your baby is being born. That is how it feels.”

For the last two decades, BYU hasn’t been able to break through against its in-state rival. It had just four wins since 2002 and hadn’t won in Salt Lake since 2006.

That year, it took a last-second, rainbow pass from Beck to Jonny Harline to put Utah away. Since then, the Cougars have been banging their head against the wall more often than not.

Some good quarterbacks didn’t get the job done.

Tanner Mangum was 0-4 in his four years. Taysom Hill was equally unsuccessful. Zach Wilson left Provo empty-handed in that regard.

“You don’t want to have a loss on your resume, losing to Utah,” former national championship quarterback Robbie Bosco said about Retzlaff’s legacy.

And now he won’t

Retzlaff now has something all BYU quarterbacks covet.

“I think you go back and look at all the BYU wins, because there haven’t been a lot over the past two decades, and as a quarterback this is where you make your name,” said former BYU wide receiver Austin Collie, who beat Utah in 2007.

“Max Hall, John Beck, Steve Sarkisian and Brandon Doman. The Utah game is what kind of makes the statement of them being the BYU quarterback,” Collie said this week. “So if Retzlaff goes out there and puts it on Utah, I think that puts his name in that group of modern-day quarterbacks that have left their fingerprints on the program.”

Retzlaff’s fingerprints on this game will be remembered in BYU lore for a long time. It wasn’t just the 65-yard drive to end it — but the last 20 minutes where he guided BYU back.

For most of the night, BYU’s offense looked listless. Retzlaff started the second half 1-for-7 and was 10-for-22 overall. Without his production, the Cougars were down 11 and faced their largest deficit of the year.

But he managed to keep them in the game. Starting at his own 5-yard line in the third quarter, Retzlaff went 95 yards to get BYU back within two points. On that drive alone, he bulleted in three passes of 19-plus yards and finished it off with a rushing touchdown.

It wasn’t a perfect performance. He would finish 15-of-33 for 219 yards and one rushing touchdown.

But when everything appeared down, nearly sacked on the final drive to end it, he came back.

“When I was in the end zone, my back going down, it wasn’t a good feeling. Looking up and seeing that we had new life, the guys were confident man,” Retzlaff said. “That first, first down is the catalyst. And once we got it, we started rolling.”

Head coach Kalani Sitake was just happy they got the chance.

“Whatever decision the refs made, I don’t think they are trying to get it wrong,” he said. “That’s just part of the game. The refs are part of the game. We were able to capitalize on [the holding] and make a big play. ... Nothing was granted to us.”

When the game was over, Retzlaff found his father and mother waiting for him by the end zone. As the chants rained down, he sensed what he had just done and the company he had just joined.

And Retzlaff’s legacy is only growing. He could have BYU in its first College Football Playoff in a few months, something Collie said would put him on the “modern-day Mount Rushmore” at BYU. And Retzlaff is starting to taste it.

“Nothing you can ask for but control your own destiny at the end of the year,” Retzlaff said.

As for his father, he’s just trying to take it all in. As he looked up, the stands were full of Retzlaff jerseys. His son was being showering in praise. His name is now securely among BYU legends.

“Are you not entertained?” he joked.

Then he finished.

“Here I am a surly old football coach, now I’m romantic [about football],” he said.