For 24 seasons, Greg Wrubell has been calling football games on the radio for BYU. Over the years, he has seen and described just about everything imaginable, including tremendous moments of joy and despair — with some of those mood swings happening on the same play.
On Saturday, when the Cougars clash with Portland State (6 p.m., ESPN+, BYURadio), Wrubell will call a scene no one in these parts has seen before. Bear Bachmeier will become the first true freshman quarterback to lead BYU into a season opener. As Wrubell will opine, the kid’s newness is only part of the story.
“I don’t know how many true freshmen come into BYU at his size (6-foot-2, 225 pounds) and readiness physically and with his pedigree. Everybody wanted this guy,” Wrubell told the “Y’s Guys” livestream show this week. “(Aaron Roderick) has worked with good quarterbacks who became NFL quarterbacks, but I don’t know that he’s had anybody who has come in with this background.”
Or his number.
Bachmeier will be the first quarterback in program history to wear No. 47, a number his dad gave him at age 5 when he played linebacker and running back. Bachmeier eventually moved to quarterback, and the number went with him.
After earning four-star status at Murrieta Valley High in California, Bachmeier stiff-armed offers from Georgia, Alabama, Notre Dame and the Cougars to play at Stanford. He graduated early and joined the Cardinal for spring practice, where he competed for the starting job.
In May, after Stanford fired head coach Troy Taylor, Bachmeier transferred to BYU. When returning starter Jake Retzlaff withdrew from school, the new kid in town proceeded to win the starting spot in Provo. As a legitimate dual-threat quarterback, Bachmeier has four years of eligibility and Wrubell is eager to describe all of it.
“The Days of ′47 are here. He is a quarterbacking pioneer at BYU,” Wrubell said, albeit tongue-in-cheek. However, in a more serious tone, he said, “With all the great history at BYU and the young quarterbacks who played here, no one has done it this way before.”
Saturday will be a day of firsts for Bachmeier, and after so many years on the mic, it will also give Wrubell something he hasn’t said before either — “Playing quarterback for BYU, No. 47, true freshman, Bear Bachmeier.”
For what happens next, you’ll have to tune in to find out.
Wrubell’s top five
Greg Wrubell will call his 25th season opener for BYU football on Saturday when the Cougars host Portland State. Among the previous 24 openers, there are five that stand out as his favorites.
5. BYU 70, Tulane 35 (2001): “This was my first game calling BYU on the radio. It was also Gary Crowton’s first (game). BYU came out with the option with Brandon Doman and Luke Staley. BYU gained 734 yards with 437 rushing. I remember being so nervous because how could you not be nervous. This is the first game without Paul James in 35 years, so they are all listening to this kid (and wondering) how is he going to do? My biggest worry was, ‘What is my touchdown call going to be? How am I going to call a touchdown?’ and there were 10 touchdowns for BYU that day and five for Tulane. I was doing nothing but calling touchdowns.”
4. BYU 14, Mississippi 13 (2011): “This was the first game of independence for BYU. They trailed 13-0 in the fourth quarter. Jake Heaps threw a touchdown pass with 10 minutes left and then the strip sack and score on third-and-27 with Kyle Van Noy — BYU scores the winning touchdown with KVN rolling into the end zone.”
3. BYU 18, Arizona 16 (2015): “Eight seconds remaining, the kid (Jake Oldroyd) with the green shoes (he wore in high school) comes in, most of the players didn’t know who he was, and he hit the game-winning field goal to give Kalani his first win in his first game as BYU’s head coach.”
2. No. 20 BYU 14, No. 3 Oklahoma 13 (2009): “This was the first college game in AT&T Stadium (formerly Cowboys Stadium). First win over a top-three team in 19 years. Three minutes to go — McKay Jacobsen from Max Hall in the far end zone away from me. I could barely see who caught it. I was kind of guessing and hoping I was right.”
1. BYU 33, Nebraska 28 (2015): “This is the Hail Mary from Tanner Mangum to Mitch Mathews. I gave the edge to the Hail Mary because of the drama of it. It’s Nebraska, it’s a legendary team, there were zeroes on the clock.”
Dave McCann is a sportswriter and columnist for the Deseret News and is a play-by-play announcer and show host for BYUtv/ESPN+. He co-hosts “Y’s Guys” at ysguys.com and is the author of the children’s book “C is for Cougar,” available at deseretbook.com