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PROVO — Gerry Bohanon spent the offseason trying to regain the mechanics, the flexibility and the stamina in his throwing shoulder after spending more than a year away from football with an injury.
He said it was "just like riding a bike," though sometimes it takes a few trips around the block to get up to full speed.
With a full spring practice session at BYU and heading toward his second week of training camp, he's pedaling away.
"That bike is pedaling right now. Good chain, oiled up; the tire's pumped up. The bike feels good," said Bohanon, insisting his shoulder is healthy, as well.
The former Baylor and USF quarterback who totaled more than 2,500 yards and 27 touchdowns in helping the Bears to a 12-2 record and Sugar Bowl win in 2021 is locked in a competition for the starting quarterback job with incumbent Jake Retzlaff.
But there's no sign of any decision as the calendar turns to Week 2 of training camp. That's because both quarterbacks are still pedaling furiously, trying to show their best form before the Cougars' second season in the Big 12.
"They kind of go back and forth," BYU coach Kalani Sitake said Monday. "I don't know if it's enough yet to separate them, but it's also difficult when you're working with the ones O-line compared to the twos. We're taking that into account, as well as the receivers and the DBs. When we factor that all in, it's more about who can get the team to execute the best and make sure we're not making mistakes."
Sitake said a live scrimmage scheduled for Saturday may help the coaches further evaluate the decision, which has also involved running repetitions with backups Treyson Bourguet, McCae Hillstead and Cole Hagen on a split practice field during the first week of camp.
That split-field concept has made practices busier for most coaches, with the potential at neck injuries from straining their heads faster than before.
But it's also given both experience with the No. 1 and No. 2 offensive line and wide receivers, which has helped solidify chemistry and timing — no matter who wins the job.
Experience in the same offensive system is a valuable tool, and perhaps that is Retzlaff's biggest advantage over his incoming transfer counterpart.
"Anybody who has played this position knows that the more years you have in this offense, the further you'll be along," said Retzlaff, who called Week 1 of training camp in 2024 "a world of difference" from Week 1 in 2023, when he was an incoming junior college transfer behind fellow newcomer Kedon Slovis. "I think I took a huge step from a year ago to today. There are definitely big improvements in my game, especially within this offense. I feel like I'm showcasing that more and more every day."
Plenty was made about Retzlaff's spring practice session, when Aaron Roderick revealed he didn't throw an interception while the fourth-year BYU offensive coordinator logged each snap with the meticulousness of a baseball manager counting off strikeouts for a no-hitter.
Say what you will about practice and whether that will translate to a game; time will tell on that end. But it may lend insight into Retzlaff's comfort with the offense.
"I'm still running this offense; I'm not cowboying it," said Retzlaff, who completed 50.4% of his passes for 648 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions en route to a 4-0 record as a starter a year ago. "But I'm myself 100% and that's how you take that next step up. Last year was me just trying to get this offense to run. Now you find yourself doing the little things, and add it to the offense to make it even better."
The same could be said of BYU's offense that returns eight starters from a team that went 5-7 a year ago, including six of the Cougars' top seven pass catchers and 88 starts along an offensive line led by Connor Pay, Weylin Lapuaho and Caleb Etienne.
"We have good players on offense and we have a lot of guys that know what they're doing now, where we had a lot of good players who didn't know what they were doing," Roderick said. "It took a while for the execution to come together. It took way too long."
Of course, much of it starts with the quarterback.
"I think everything I said in spring still holds true, and we'll be exactly 50-50 even reps with the ones indefinitely right now — until somebody emerges," Roderick said.
"I'm not in a hurry at all. I feel really comfortable," he added. "There's a really good chance we're going to need both of those guys at some point this year. We're not in a rush … at some point in camp, it becomes apparent to the whole team."
