PROVO, Utah (ABC4 Sports) - With quarterback Kedon Slovis still recovering from injuries, BYU will turn to Jake Retzlaff this Saturday against Iowa State.
Retlaff made his first career start last week at West Virginia, and completed 24 of 42 passes for 210 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions in a 37-7 loss to the Mountaineers.
“Right now we are planning on Jake starting,” offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick said after Wednesday's practice. “Kedon is improving. He made a few throws today. He is healing, but he is not all the way there yet. We are unsure if he will be available Saturday.”
Slovis, who started the first eight games of the season, is nursing shoulder and elbow injuries, and isn't healthy enough to make all the throws yet.
“It just hit a point where he couldn’t do, he couldn’t throw," Roderick said. "He was in a lot of pain last week. He couldn’t grip the ball, and he was having trouble throwing.”
Slovis has thrown for 1,716 yards, 12 touchdowns and six interceptions this season.
Retzlaff was the #1 ranked junior college quarterback by ESPN, and Roderick was pleased with how the strong-armed junior played in his first NCAA start.
“I thought he played pretty well,” Roderick said. “Obviously we didn’t score many points. Obviously it is super disappointing that we only scored seven points. But he did a lot of good things in that game and I thought he did a good job. I would say solid performance, but we gotta do a better job as an offense.”
BYU (5-4, 2-4 Big 12) and Iowa State will kick off at 8:15 p.m. Saturday night with both teams needing a victory to become bowl eligible.