Bear Bachmeier played like a freshman against Wildcats — until he didn't

TUCSON, Ariz. — Kalani Sitake would prefer that his 6-foot-2 centaur of a true freshman quarterback Bear Bachmeier didn't have to learn from a mistake like either of the two interceptions he threw as BYU trailed by as much as 24-14 in the second half of the weather-delayed road tilt at Arizona.

But if he is learning on the fly, he won't mind the type of response Bachmeier showed for the second game in a row.

The steely-eyed freshman made his share of poor decisions Saturday at Arizona Stadium, when he completed just 49% of his passes for 172 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions against arguably the best passing defense in the Big 12 and the remnants of Hurricane Priscilla.

But when Bachmeier looked at his team in the huddle, trailing by 10 points after Kedrick Reescano's 36-yard touchdown with 11:37 left in regulation, he uttered five words with the confidence of a fifth-year senior.

"I said, let's go win the game," Bachmeier said. "We stalled in the first overtime, and a lot of that was my fault. But we bounced back in that second one."

And go win they did, as the Cougars improved to 6-0 for a program-first second consecutive season with a 33-27 double-overtime win at Arizona Stadium.

Still, did his teammates believe him, the teenager who committed to BYU in May after spending all of spring at Stanford and arriving just a few short weeks before training camp?

Maybe that's the most interesting part. They did.

"We never doubt," said wide receiver Parker Kingston, who topped the century mark for the second straight game with five catches for 117 yards including a career-long 75-yard touchdown. "We were down 10 with 10 minutes left and we knew the defense would get stops, and we knew that we were starting to get those drives put together. It was finally good to finish those last two drives off the defensive stops."

Call it moxy, confidence, hubris or any number of like-minded adjectives. On Saturday night, though, you can call it gutsy.

It certainly was when BYU (6-0, 3-0 Big 12) rode LJ Martin, who piled up a career-high 162 yards on 25 carries, to a 14-0 lead early.

That was before Noah Fifita, who threw for 219 yards and two touchdowns himself, led a tremendous comeback. The redshirt junior completed 25-of-45 passes with just one interception — one that essentially amounted to an arm-punt that Isaiah Glasker caught near the goal line in the second half.

He also spurred a remarkable rally of his own, leading the Wildcats (4-2, 2-2 Big 12) on a 24-0 run and seemingly stunning the unbeaten Cougars with the best pass defense that had flummoxed are challengers short of then-unbeaten Iowa State to date.

With the resolve of a veteran, Bachmeier pulled himself up like a man, forgot about the turnovers he created, and acted like anything but a freshman when he completed four of five-straight passes in the fourth quarter to add to his 89 yards and two rushing touchdowns on 22 carries.

"He plays like he's a vet," Kingston said. "He's a freshman, but he's smart. He's just trying to make plays. He's so smart for a true freshman, and he's a ball player.

"He doesn't get down; he's just next drive, go out firing. It's been fun to play with him."

That was especially true against a defense run by Danny Gonzales, the former New Mexico head coach and long-time aficionado of Rocky Long's pioneering defensive mind.

He coached the Lobos to a top-30 passing defense in 2021 just two years after inheriting one of the worst pass defense teams in the nation, and boasts the No. 10 defense nationally in passing yards allowed.

Make no mistake; the Wildcats confused, flummoxed and even took Bachmeier out of the game — until they didn't. The teenager had to be a bit more creative with his passing, and a bit more utilitarian in running as ran for 89 yards on 22 carries (the last one isn't an ideal number, Bachmeier admits).

Still a freshman, the first-year starter is beginning to play like something more. That doesn't mean he won't make mistakes. But he's figuring out ways to make up for them — with his arm and his legs.

"We know he's tough, and he can run," Sitake said. "That's kind of a lot. But he can handle it, and LJ can handle his 25 runs, too.

"When it came time to make a play, we needed LJ and we needed Bear. Sometimes you're going to have to ask Bear to run the ball, and he's OK with it."

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