Habemus starting quarterback!
About six hours ago at the time of writing, ESPN's Pete Thamel tweeted out a much-anticipated announcement for BYU fans: Bear Bachmeier has been named the starting quarterback by Aaron Roderick, beating out McCae Hillstead and Treyson Bourget in a three-way competition for the top job. This is now Bear's team, and when the Cougars face off against Portland State on August 31, he will become the first true freshman in BYU history to start a week 1 game. In this write-up, I want to give my thoughts on Bear as the starter, what this decision means for the team and the season, and also what it tells us about the process the coaches went through this offseason.
There's a lot to love about Bear Bachmeier. He's big, tough, and athletic—built a little like a linebacker. He also wears a linebacker's number, #47, which will certainly attract attention. He has a strong arm and throws a tight spiral, but is also a convincing threat on the ground—ARod loved running QB draws with Jake Retzlaff last year, and Bear will potentially be an even better fit for those plays. The BYU staff has also raved about Bear's intelligence, noting multiple times how quickly he's learned the playbook as a true freshman who didn't even go through spring ball with the team.
There are, however, downsides to starting a completely untested true freshman, particularly one with limited knowledge of the offense who went through spring ball somewhere else. The full range of the offense probably won't be open to Bear at first—ARod is going to have to simplify things somewhat in order to make sure that he's comfortable. He's also liable to make his share of freshman mistakes—missed reads, scrambled communication with receivers, and a general struggle to adapt to the speed of the college game. All of this is likely, and BYU fans should be prepared for it and exercise patience. I have other, more fundamental questions about Bear as a quarterback—even though the ball has looked good coming off his hand in the limited film we've been shown from practice, I'm not entirely convinced by his throwing motion, especially from a consistency standpoint. But I'll reserve judgement on that until we see what he looks like a few games into the season.
Overall, the coaches seem convinced that the pros outweigh the cons with Bear, and I tend to agree with them. I already had him penciled in as BYU's presumptive 2026 starter before Jake's transfer even became official. I think he has by far the highest upside in the position group, and I don't mind at all the prospect of the future coming early for the BYU football program.
I'll be honest: when ARod first announced that there would be a true three-way battle to replace Jake, I was skeptical that Bear would really be a contender. Given that he was a true freshman with zero experience in the BYU offense, I thought he would struggle to keep up with McCae Hillstead and Treyson Bourget, both of whom have starting experience at the FBS level and both of whom have spent a full season and two offseasons learning ARod's scheme.
However, as the first two weeks of camp came and went with no clear separation between the three, I began to wonder. Hillstead, at least—the highest remaining QB from the 2024 depth chart—should have easily outpaced an inexperienced true freshman. And that begged the question: if Hillstead wasn't separating himself, then what would be the point of starting him over Bear? All else being equal, starting the high-upside freshman over the middling-upside redshirt sophomore seemed like the logical choice. And ARod clearly agreed.
One point reinforced by this QB competition is that BYU has been remarkably depth-poor at quarterback since the retirement of one of the program's all-time great backup quarterbacks, Baylor Romney, following the 2021 season. The 2022 QB room was so poor behind Jaren Hall that Jaren had to play hurt for several games—likely directly costing BYU at least the Notre Dame game—because the coaches didn't trust any of the other QB options. And since then, ARod's QB recruiting hasn't just been questionable—it's virtually been nonexistent. Until Ryder Lyons, ARod hadn't signed a really competitive QB commit out of high school in several years. BYU's last three starting quarterbacks, including Bear, as well as their last three backups, have all been transfers. That's right—in the 2023, 2024, and 2025 seasons, every single occupant of a top-two depth chart position at quarterback has been a transfer. In 2024, the top four quarterbacks on the roster were transfers, and the same would be true this year if not for the fact that Emerson Geilman, a high school signee, appears to have locked down the QB4 spot.
It's frankly a little worrying that Hillstead and Bourget did not look more impressive next to a true freshman, and raises serious questions about what might happen if Bear, ever a ready and willing runner, is lost to injury. The good news, though, is that all three quarterbacks got an unusual number of first-team reps in fall camp thanks to the QB battle, meaning that they have at least had the opportunity to develop chemistry with the starters on offense.
I think that I may be more optimistic about the 2025 season than a lot of prognosticators. There are plenty of commentators who have made the case that BYU can't seriously compete in the Big 12 with a true freshman quarterback, and I don't think that's correct. Yes, undoubtedly, BYU's healthy floor just got significantly lower, but I would argue that the Cougars' ceiling is very high—dare I say it, possibly just as high as it was when Jake was here, if not higher.
Look. I've made no secret of the fact that I question Jake Retzlaff's ability as a P4 starting quarterback. Bluntly, I thought the rest of the offense and especially the defense and special teams basically carried him for large portions of the 2024 season. Just as it's possible to underrate a good quarterback on a middling team, it's all too easy to overrate a mediocre quarterback on a successful team. To be clear, I like Jake and wish him nothing but the best—I hope he absolutely shreds at Tulane. But if I'm being truthful, I was...less than enthused about our QB situation going into this season with the expectation that Jake would start. I hoped he would take a step forward, but it is exceedingly rare for a senior quarterback to suddenly find a new gear.
But enough about Jake. After all, this is Bear's team now. And with Bear's blend of athleticism and football IQ, if this offense clicks, it could really click. Couple that with a defense that looks every bit as good as last year's, and a reliable special teams unit that stayed mostly intact in the offseason, and this BYU team looks poised to be quite good. If the rest of the team lives up to its potential, and if Bear can play in control, avoid getting rattled, and above all else take care of the ball, it would not shock me to see BYU repeat a 10-2 record and contend for a Big 12 title. It also wouldn't shock me to see them go 5-7, but I much prefer the former outcome—and in all honesty, I find it more likely.
In closing, I want to reiterate something I mentioned earlier, which is that BYU fans are going to need to give Bear Bachmeier and the entire offense a measure of grace this season. Bear is extremely new. It's a mark of how talented he is that he won the starting job anyway, but it's important to recognize that he might look bad at times. True freshman starters tend to have up and down moments. Bear will probably throw the odd boneheaded pick. He will probably take a few bad sacks. The offense may look disjointed at times. It will not do for fans to begin calling for Bear's head (or ARod's, for that matter) the moment things don't look good. Thankfully, BYU's first six games of the season are not especially intimidating—a road matchup with East Carolina might seriously be the scariest game in that stretch. So let's give Bear the time and space he needs to develop, recognizing that he won the job and deserves the chance to show us why.