‘A cool customer’: Freshman quarterback Bear Bachmeier continues to impress for No. 23 BYU

BOULDER, Colorado — A case could be made that BYU’s defense was mostly responsible for the Cougars winning their first three games, with cornerback Evan Johnson’s two interceptions — including a pick-six — the big difference in last week’s 34-13 win over East Carolina.

Similarly, BYU fans should argue that the offense, and freshman quarterback Bear Bachmeier in particular, is the reason the Cougars stayed undefeated Saturday night with a gutty 24-21 come-from-behind win over Colorado.

At least, that was one of BYU coach Kalani Sitake’s takes after his team overcame a 14-0 deficit in the first quarter and a 21-17 deficit in the third quarter to win its first Big 12 contest of 2025.

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“Yeah, I thought he did a great job. It didn’t ever look like, from my perspective, that he was frazzled or that he was shell-shocked at all,” Sitake said. “So that’s a huge (plus).

“That’s how he came to us. He came like that, so credit to his family and the way he was raised. He was a cool customer, and I loved the way he was leading out there.”

Sure, the teenager (Bachmeier turned 19 last December) missed a few throws, including a Chase Roberts drop on the first possession that Bachmeier insisted was a bad throw, but he more than made up for them in other areas.

And he didn’t turn the ball over for the fourth straight game. Bachmeier became the first BYU quarterback ever to account for 10 touchdowns without a turnover in the first four games of a season.

“Yeah, it’s a big win. But you know, at the end of the day, it was a team win.”

—  BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier

“Yeah, it’s a big win, but you know, at the end of the day, it was a team win,” Bachmeier said. “It was a great team win. Our defense balled out. Special teams balled out. Offense, we did everything as well, so just great complimentary football.”

Bachmeier called the last few months “exhilarating,” and said he never dreamed that he would get his college career off to such a memorable start.

“We just gotta keep it rolling,” he said.

The game started with Colorado quarterback Kaidon Salter running all over the Cougars and ended with Bachmeier running all over the Buffaloes. BYU’s rushing stampede include Bachmeier and LJ Martin carrying the football 15 times each.

Bachmeier gained 103 yards and lost five for a net of 98, while Martin gained 70 and lost 12 for a net of 58. Both players had a long run of 16 yards, complimented by Cody Hagen’s 32-yard touchdown run that proved to be the winning score.

What drives Bachmeier, who also threw for 179 yards and two TDs — both to Roberts — to put his head down and fight for extra yardage and first downs? Salter, on the other hand, elected to slide several times when it appeared he could get more yardage.

“It is just the way I was raised,” Bachmeier said. “I grew up in a pretty competitive household, and the mentality that was instilled in me when you step in between the lines,” he said.

“I think that’s instilled in everybody on the team, that once you step in between the lines, there’s nothing stopping you from getting a first down.”

Roberts caught five passes for 49 yards and the two TDs, atoning for the early miscue. Parker Kingston caught five passes for 38 yards and had a 12-yard punt return after Tiger Bachmeier made a mental error and fielded a punt at the goal line.

One of the perhaps forgotten plays that turned out to be huge was Bear Bachmeier’s 16-yard run on third-and-17. Sitake went for it on fourth-and-1, with reserve running back Enoch Nawahine getting 4 yards.

Three plays later, Hagen scored the winning touchdown with 14:02 left in the game.

“Bear is just Bear. He’s always been a very mature guy,” Roberts said. “I’ve seen him grow in the little aspects of the game of football and (learn) how to lead the team and how to make plays and do things like that.

“He’s very coachable, which is awesome. He’s an easy guy to rally around, an easy guy to get along with.”

With RB2 Sione Moa out with an undisclosed injury, Bachmeier had to pick up some of the rushing load. Sitake told Greg Wrubell of the BYU Sports Radio Network before the game that Moa will be out for a while.

“An injury happened from his injury in the (ECU) game,” Sitake said. “We were able to take him to the hospital and get that worked on. He will be back this year. … We will see in the next few weeks how it’s going to look.”

Sitake said running Bachmeier 15 times wasn’t by design, but proved to be effective. Is it sustainable?

“We are going to do whatever it takes to win, and Bear is ready to carry it 40 times if he has to. We will just see how it goes,” Sitake said.

“He’s durable. Him and LJ are like twins out there. We feel good about their preparation and the hard work to get them where they’re at now.”

Up next for BYU is a Friday night showdown in Provo (8:30 p.m. MDT, ESPN) with West Virginia (2-3), which is struggling on both sides of the ball and lost 48-14 to Utah on Saturday.