Aside from a few early throws that were a bit off-target, Bear Bachmeier did everything he was supposed to do in BYU’s 69-0 romp over Portland State last Saturday.
The freshman quarterback threw for three touchdowns and ran for two while completing 7 of 11 passes for 97 yards. Bachmeier, 19, will always have that performance to fall back on in 2025, but the degree of difficulty rises exponentially on Saturday against Stanford (8:15 p.m. MDT, ESPN).
“You can’t even compare the two (opponents),” said tight end Noah Moeaki, who caught the 5-yard touchdown pass from Bachmeier in the second quarter that gave BYU a 21-0 lead.
Head coach Kalani Sitake praised Bachmeier’s play, after the game Saturday and again on Monday in his weekly press briefing, saying that the first freshman to start a season-opener for BYU handled the “crazy environment” well once he got settled in and comfortable.
“The question was whether we keep him going into the second half or not, and we felt like he accomplished enough for what we wanted in the first half,” Sitake said.
Wednesday, offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick said he agreed with the head coach’s decision to play the backup quarterbacks in the second half, noting that Bachmeier had gotten his feet wet enough and that the Cougars wanted to display good sportsmanship in the mismatch.
“We were almost trying not to score at the end,” Roderick said.
Although BYU is now a 20-point favorite against Stanford, points will be far harder to come by at LaVell Edwards Stadium late Saturday night, even if the Cougars are 29-4 in their last 33 night games.
Assessing Bachmeier’s debut, Roderick said it went as well as could be expected.
“Small sample size. We didn’t have to throw very much, but I thought he played well. The best part was I agreed with every decision he made in the game. He didn’t make any bad decisions with the ball,” Roderick said. “There was one throw early in the game where I think he could have thrown it into the next window. But I thought his decision-making was excellent.”
Roderick said he would like to see “more of the same” against the Cardinal, which fell 23-20 at Hawaii on Aug. 23.
“He just needs to continue to do his job,” Roderick said. “Obviously he is going to have to throw more than 11 times to win this game. We are playing a quality opponent that we have a lot of respect for. … He doesn’t need to do anything special. Just keep doing what he did last game, with a little bit bigger sample size this game.”
Perhaps the most interesting thing that Roderick said Tuesday about Bachmeier’s performance is that the freshman already has the green light to change plays and call audibles.
“Yeah, more (freedom) than I’ve ever (given) a freshman. We had a good number of check plays in the last game, and we have a bunch (ready) in this game, too. He’s handled them very well in practice,” Roderick said. “Typically you wouldn’t want to overwhelm a freshman with those, but he’s handled them so well in practice that we are just treating him like anybody else who has ever played quarterback for us.”
The Cougars (1-0) will have a rare mid-September bye after Saturday’s game, then turn their attention to their first road game of the 2025 season — at East Carolina on Sept. 20. Coaches blasted crowd noise at practice on Wednesday, but Roderick said that was to prepare the defense more than the offense.
“Jay (Hill) mentioned last year that early in the season they had some miscommunications on defense when our crowd was getting noise against the opponent’s offense,” Roderick said. “So yeah, that was for the defense to practice … We (the offense) will practice with crowd noise during the bye week next week.”
Roderick said that receiver Tei Nacua “is still a little bit ginger with that hamstring” injury and probably won’t play against Stanford. He said receiver Reggie Frischknecht “is really close” to returning and might play this week.
Has Bear Bachmeier’s backup emerged?
Three backup quarterbacks got into last week’s game — McCae Hillstead, Treyson Bourguet and walk-on Cole Hagen, who was not even on the roster this spring or summer but was welcomed back when Jake Retzlaff left the program.
Hillstead got the first snaps, and completed 4 of 5 passes for 33 yards, while also rushing twice for 23 yards. Bourguet completed one pass for 8 yards and ran once for 21 yards.
However, Roderick said it has not been decided yet which of the two has won the backup QB job.
“I think it will depend on (the opponent). We are just going to keep competing and if the time comes we will decide on the situation, who we think gives us the best chance to win,” Roderick said. “They both played well. I know Treyson got two pass attempts and McCae had (five) and they both made good decisions and managed the team really well.”
True freshman Emerson Geilman was listed as QB4 on the first depth chart of the season, but has received a mission call and will depart for the Brazil São Paulo Interlagos Mission in January.
“We put Cole (Hagen) in because we appreciate what a great teammate he has been in his time here, and felt like he deserved it,” Roderick said. “He’s been a great member of our team. He contributes a lot behind the scenes that people don’t see in our quarterback meetings.
“He plays scout team receiver. He plays scout team quarterback. He helps us with our call sheet, our wrist band every week. He does a lot of things like a coach, but he is also a player on the team. He has a really unique role and he deserved a chance to get out there.”
