According to a report from ESPN’s Pete Thamel, former BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff has verbally committed to Tulane.
Retzlaff was a facing a seven-game suspension if he remained at BYU due to an admission he made in response to a civil lawsuit recently. A woman filed the lawsuit alleging Retzlaff raped her in 2023.
However, after reports filtered out that Retzlaff admitted to having consensual premarital sex with her, she dropped the lawsuit the next day. The admission to having premarital sex was a violation of the Mormon school’s honor code.
Retzlaff officially withdrew from school on July 11. Per Thamel’s report, Tulane has spent the past week vetting the QB with the school’s Title IX office involved.
Retzlaff will enroll at Tulane as a walk-on. Since he was a little shy of receiving his degree, Retzlaff couldn’t enter the transfer portal. He’ll compete for the starting QB job when training camp opens in early August.
Retzlaff led the Cougars to an 11-2 straight-up record and a 9-4 against-the-spread mark last year, including a 36-14 win over Colorado as 3.5-point underdogs in the Alamo Bowl. He completed 57.9 percent of his passes for 2,947 yards with a 20/12 touchdown-to-interception ratio.
Retzlaff is a threat with his legs, too, rushing for 417 yards and six TDs with a 4.2 yards-per-carry average.
In its first season under head coach Jon Sumrall, Tulane went 9-5 SU and 8-5-1 ATS. In Week 2, the Green Wave lost a heartbreaker at home to 17th-ranked Kansas St. (34-27) and then dropped a 34-19 decision at 15th-ranked Oklahoma in Week 3.
Sumrall’s team bounced back to win eight consecutive games and moved up to #18 in the national rankings after winning 35-0 at Navy as a seven-point road favorite. However, Tulane lost three in a row to end the season, including a 35-14 loss at 24th-ranked Army in the AAC Championship Game.
The Green Wave saw its star QB Darian Mensah, who had a 22/6 TD-INT ratio, enter the transfer portal before a 33-8 loss vs. Florida at the Gasparilla Bowl. Mensah ended up signing a lucrative NIL deal to play at Duke.
Retzlaff will have plenty of competition for the starting role at Tulane. The Green Wave hit the portal to sign three QBs during the offseason. They also made a run at Tennessee transfer Nico Iamaleava, who ended up signing with UCLA.
Retzlaff’s competition will include Brendan Sullivan, Kadin Semonza and Donovan Leary. Sullivan has 11 career starts in three seasons with Iowa and Northwestern, starting three times for the Hawkeyes in 2024.
In 23 career games, Sullivan has completed 69.4 percent of his passes for 1,778 yards with a 13/8 TD-INT ratio. He has 407 career rushing yards and seven TDs.
Sullivan signed with Tulane in late April after QB TJ Finley, a transfer from Western Kentucky who started his career at LSU and was also a part-time starter at Auburn, entered the portal after he was suspended by Tulane following his arrest on April 2 for possession of stolen property.
Semonza was named the MAC’s Offensive Freshman of the Year while playing at Ball St. last season. He started 11 of 12 games, completing 64.4 percent of his throws for 2,904 yards with a 25/10 TD-INT ratio. Semonza led the MAC in completions (275), attempts (427), TD passes and passing yards per game (242.0).
Leary played in two games for Illinois in 2024, completing 2-of-5 passes for 29 yards.
Retzlaff was recruited by Sumrall coming out of junior college before he signed with BYU. Sumrall was the head coach at Troy at the time and was able to get Retzlaff on campus for an official visit.
As of early Monday afternoon, most books had Tulane listed as a seven-point home favorite vs. Northwestern in its opener at noon Eastern on ESPNU. The total was 47 points, while the Wildcats were +215 on the money line.
FanDuel has Tulane as the +300 favorite to win the AAC Championship Game. The next-shortest odds belong to UTSA (+420), Navy (+480), Memphis (+550), South Florida (+650) and Army (+900). The Green Wave’s season win total is 8.5 (‘under’ -118, ‘over’ -104).
In non-conference play, the Green Wave will face their former QB when Duke comes to Yulman Stadium in New Orleans in Week 3. They have non-con road assignments at South Alabama in Week 2 and at Ole Miss in Week 4.
Phil Steele’s National Unit Rankings have Tulane #64 at RB, #64 at WR, #39 on the offensive line, #29 on the d-line, #53 at LB and #29 on special teams.