BYU’s most prominent Texan is eager to watch Bear Bachmeier lead the Cougars against Texas Tech on Saturday in Arlington in Big 12 championship game. San Antonio native Ty Detmer, BYU’s lone Heisman Trophy winner, believes the sky is the limit for the freshman quarterback.
“He’s been amazing. You look at him, and you are like, that kid was playing high school football last year? He’s been hard to handle for a lot of people,” Detmer told the “Y’s Guys” livestream show this week. “The thing I love about him is after he scores a touchdown, they celebrate a little bit and then he’s right on the bench focused for the next series.”
Bachmeier is 11-1 as a starter and after BYU’s 41-21 victory against UCF last Saturday, he was named the Big 12’s Freshman of the Week for the seventh time.
“He’s done it the right way. He’s not showboating and pounding his chest ‘look at me’ and all those things,” Detmer said. “He’s playing the game, and the boys have really gravitated towards that. He’s a team guy — ‘whatever it takes to win, I’m gonna try to do.’ I’m really impressed with his poise and maturity as a true freshman.”
Detmer believes Bachmeier and BYU’s ground attack will play a key role in their success Saturday against the Big 12’s top defense.
“Run the ball. When they are able to do that, it opens up the play action and deeper shots. That takes pressure off a young quarterback. (Bear) runs extremely well too, so that helps,” said Detmer. “With (LJ Martin) going one way and him going the other, it gives you some options and (you need) enough of the passing game to keep people honest.”
BYU turned the ball over three times in its 29-7 loss at Texas Tech on Nov. 8. Since that tough day in Lubbock, the Cougars have won three straight games by a combined 111-48 and without a single turnover.
“They are playing really well and clicking on all cylinders going into this,” Detmer said. “They’ve got to run the ball, play good defense and then have a few things go their way.”
Heisman anniversary
Thirty-five years ago this week, Dec. 1, 1990, Detmer became the first and only BYU football player to win the Heisman Trophy.
“I do have seven grandkids now, so I guess it has been a little while,” said the Arizona high school football coach. “But when you are out there with the boys at practice or on game nights, it feels just like it was yesterday when you were out there playing.”
Detmer never once thought about winning the Heisman Trophy while growing up in San Antonio, claiming the idea was too far-fetched. When he was 10, Texas legend Earl Campbell received the award and Detmer thought that was a pretty big deal.
Thirteen years later at his own Heisman Trophy reception, Campbell was the featured speaker.
“He looked right at me and said, ‘The Heisman will do more for you than you will ever be able to do for it’ — that’s been the case,” Detmer said. “Even though you play 14 years in the NFL, you are always introduced as a Heisman Trophy winner. I’m still in awe. I get made fun of because I still go and introduce myself to some of the guys, they are like, ‘We know who you are. You don’t have to introduce yourself. You won the Heisman. You are just like us.’”
Long overdue
In some ways, Detmer’s Heisman award feels like it was forever ago. For one, without cell phones, he had to track down a pay phone to call his parents after the announcement. Secondly, all the Cougars who came close to winning their own Heisman played at BYU years before his arrival.
“It was long overdue with some of the great players that had been through (BYU) before me. I’ve always said, those guys laid the groundwork — guys that probably should have won it and didn’t,” Detmer said. “I felt it was special for LaVell (Edwards) to finally have somebody to win that award. I think he was as excited as anybody when they announced it. It’s always been special to be the first one from BYU.”
When the remodeling project is completed at the Student Athletic Building on campus, a replica of Detmer’s Heisman Trophy will return to its appropriate display case for Cougar fans to admire — while the real one sits on a shelf in his office at home that he can stare at whenever he wants.
Texas-sized tailgate
Everything is bigger in Detmer’s home state and when BYU fans arrive in Arlington for this weekend’s Big 12 title game, the evidence will be obvious.
“We are doing the tailgate (party) in Globe Life Field,” Taggart Barron, BYU Alumni Chapter Chair for the Dallas area told the “Y’s Guys” livestream. “Our tailgate is on the playing field of the Texas Rangers.”
BYU and some significant donors rented the entire ballpark across from AT&T Stadium to stage a Friday night event for thousands of fans from 6-9 p.m.
“It’s not cheap,” Barron said. “But I’ll tell you what is cheap — it’s gonna be free. A lot of times at these tailgates, we’ll sell tickets for 10 or 20 bucks to raise money for the local BYU (alumni) chapter but we said, forget that. We are making this thing free. For food, Globe Life Field will open their concessions, and you can buy hamburgers or hot dogs and nachos as if you were at a baseball game.”
In addition to the tailgate, BYU alumni will engage in four services projects that will gather canned food items for Arlington Charities. A Giving Machine will be staged at the tailgate and outside the stadium to benefit five Dallas-Forth Worth Charities. In all, 36,000 pounds of food will be trucked in and split between Wylie Christian Care Food Bank and 5 Loaves. Another truck will deliver 4,300 gallons of BYU Creamery milk to Catholic Charities in Dallas and Tarrant Area Food Bank West.
“This is an exciting time for one of the biggest football games in BYU history and we get to be a part of it down here in the Dallas area,” Barron said. “We feel like Texas is an extension of Provo.”
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.