Improvisation Sparked Bear Bachmeier's Long Pass to Chase Roberts

Originally posted on BYU Cougars on SI
By Casey Lundquist | Last updated Oct 8, 2025 11:31 AM ET

On Friday against West Virginia, BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier threw a strike to Chase Roberts from deep in BYU territory. The pass hit Roberts in stride and he did the rest, running all the way to the WVU four yard-line. The pass play went for 85 yards, the longest completion for BYU in 30 years.

Turns out, the long connection from Bachmeier to Roberts was sparked by improvisation, BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick explained on Coordinator's Corner.

"That was a pretty cool play," Roderick said. "There was some improvisation there between Bear and Chase. Chase was supposed to outside release and the corner jumped way outside of him, so he just took it inside almost like a quick post, and Bear was on the same page with him and hit him in stride. It was an unbelievable play by those two. Great chemistry between them...Yeah, [the throw] was a dot. He put it right on the money, and Chase was able to, I think, actually pick up speed as he caught the ball."

that was a DOT

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BYU has been slowly unleashing its passing attack with true freshman Bear Bachmeier under center. Every week, Bachmeier has been progressing and last week's pass to Roberts is a great example. An offensive coordinator can only do so much. At the end of the day, the best passing attacks require chemistry between a quarterback and his wide receivers. Bachmeier is starting to gel with his wide receivers as the calendar has turned to October.

It's easy to forget that Bachmeier entered the season with very limited reps with the first-team offense. He transferred into the program in late May and he spent most of Fall Camp splitting reps in a quarterback battle. Bachmeier has been slowly brought up to speed. Now that BYU is in the most difficult stretch of its schedule, it's time for Bachmeier to go out and win games for BYU.

The 85-yard completion was a big reason why both Bear Bachmeier and Chase Roberts had career nights against the Mountaineers. Bachmeier had a career-high 351 passing yards. Roberts had a career high 161 receiving yards on just 4 receptions.