Five Takeaways from Bear Bachmeier's BYU Debut

Originally posted on BYU Cougars on SI
By Casey Lundquist | Last updated Aug 31, 2025 2:00 PM ET

On Saturday, BYU true freshman Bear Bachmeier made BYU history as the first true freshman to start a season opener for BYU. Bachmeier proceeded to score five touchdowns, also a true freshman record, in the first half. Here are our five takeaways from Bear's first game as the BYU quarterback.

1. First-Game Jitters

Bachmeier was making his first start in front of a sellout crowd in Lavell Edwards Stadium. There were a couple instances of first-game jitters, as you would expect from a true freshman.

After completing a quick screen pass to Parker Kingston on his first throw of the game, it took a couple throws for Bear to get comfortable.

His second throw was a misfire to Parker Kingston on an intermediate throw. His third throw was a jump ball to Chase Roberts on third down that was slightly underthrown and fell incomplete. BYU was forced to punt it away on the first drive of the game.

Bachmeier didn't have another pass attempt until the final play of the first quarter when he found Chase Roberts for a touchdown.

Bachmeier's next throw was a slant to Cody Hagen that was nearly intercepted.

At that point of the game, Bachmeier was 2/5 for 9 yards and a touchdown. There was clearly some first-game jitters at play in the first quarter.

2. Found a Rhythm

After that throw to Hagen that was nearly intercepted, Bachmeier settled in and found a rhythm. His next throw was a smooth play-action pass to Noah Moeaki for the score. Bachmeier made on-the-run throw look easy as he threw a strike to Moeaki.

that was smooooth @bearb47

ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/iIUCbm5GeZ
— BYU FOOTBALL (@BYUfootball) August 31, 2025

After starting 2/5, Bachmeier went 5/6 for 88 yards and a pair of touchdowns. His best throws included a 25-yard completion to Carsen Ryan deep in BYU territory, a 22-yard touchdown to Carsen Ryan, and a 24-yard gain to Cody Hagen. The throw to Hagen was, in our opinion, his best throw of the day.

Bachmeier got more comfortable as the game progressed.

3. Made the Layups

Even when Bachmeier was uncomfortable in the first quarter, he was still making the easy throws. There wasn't an open receiver that Bachmeier missed.

That's a great starting point for a true freshman making his first start. If you look around at the inexperienced quarterbacks in college football in week one, there were a lot of misfires on short, open throws. It happens when quarterbacks go live for the first time.

Bachmeier made the layups, and that's more noteworthy than you might think for a quarterback in his position.

4. Bear the Rushing Threat

Bachmeier's rushing ability started to show in the second quarter. Bachmeier was making good decisions in terms of when to tuck the ball and run, and he was big enough and elusive enough in the redzone to make him a real rushing threat.

When BYU takes on better competition, Bachmeier's rushing ability is going to be critical to keep the defense honest. Bachmeier is better at evading tacklers than you would anticipate from a player his size, like he showed on his second and final touchdown run of the game.

BEAR WITNESS.

ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/Od3SwPus9a
— BYU FOOTBALL (@BYUfootball) August 31, 2025

5. Going to Take Some Time to Get Comfortable

Bear Bachmeier is going to experience a lot of firsts over the next month. He will experience his first game against a P4 opponent, his first road game, and his first conference game. With each new experience, there are going to be some growing pains.

Bachmeier has shown that he can adapt quickly just like he did from the first quarter to the second quarter. However, BYU will need to lean on the running game while he gets comfortable. The BYU defense will also need to keep points off the board, which they have consistently done dating back to the 2024 season.

It's reasonable to believe that Bachmeier could be a much better player by October once he goes through these new experiences.