How healthy, motivated will No. 12 BYU be for the bowl game against No. 22 Georgia Tech?

PROVO — There's an ankle injury that has had a lot of people talking since BYU's 34-7 loss to No. 4 Texas Tech in the Big 12 championship game, and what it means for the 12th-ranked Cougars' season finale in Orlando.

We'll get to quarterback Bear Bachmeier's ailment in a minute.

But linebacker Isaiah Glasker has dealt with a similar knock since Sept. 27 — and his mind continues to be on No. 22 Georgia Tech in the Pop-Tarts Bowl next Saturday, Dec. 27.

"This off week or so has been good," Glasker said after practice Wednesday morning in the school's indoor practice facility. "It really allowed my body to recover."

The 6-foot-5, 240-pound redshirt junior linebacker has plenty on his mind a week before the Cougars' bowl game. In addition to his recovering ankle and sending off the senior class with a win over the Yellow Jackets (9-3, 6-2 ACC), Glasker has an important decision to make.

The former Bingham High standout receiver-turned-safety could declare for the NFL draft after this year. He even went so far as to walk with the seniors during the regular-season finale against UCF — just in case he didn't have another game at LaVell Edwards Stadium, he said.

But for now, he's trying to squeeze every last drop out of the season before he makes a final decision with the help of coaches, family and close friends.

"It's really up in the air right now," he admitted. "I'm just trying to focus on the bowl game, and then I'll figure it out from there."

Bachmeier, who was named Big 12 freshman of the year by league coaches as well as a panel of Associated Press voters, isn't eligible to declare for the draft. But his status has been uncertain — at least, as far as some fans are concerned — after the 6-foot-2, 230-pound signal caller who wears No. 47 injured his ankle in the second half at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

The injury, obviously, affected Bachmeier, with the true freshman visibly grimacing several times when he had to throw off his back foot. He didn't go through a full practice in the week or so after the game, coaches said.

Bachmeier was back in the IPF on Wednesday, though he declined to list a percentage of his health when asked by reporters, saying he's "slowly increasing" his reps. His head coach and offensive coordinator are both confident he'll play in Orlando, though.

"I'm feeling good," he said, "feeling prepared. The team's looking good, too."

BYU head coach Kalani Sitake isn't aware of any players planning to opt out for the bowl game, though like Glasker, running back LJ Martin will likely face a similar decision if the junior wants to forego his final season of eligibility in favor of the NFL draft.

"There's still time between now and the game," Sitake admitted. "But they're practicing, and I think the biggest issue is if we can get guys healthy and 100% by the time we get to the game. Right now, I think we're on a good trajectory for that."

To date, BYU has seen offensive lineman Jake Griffin, redshirt freshman wide receiver Lamason Waller, and redshirt freshman wide receiver Marcus McKenzie declare their intentions to enter the transfer portal, which opens Jan. 2 for the first (and only) 15-day window of the offseason.

"If people are opting out or entering the portal, most of the time it's for playing time," Sitake noted. "That's kind of been the reason, not just here but other places, too."

As far as non-Playoff bowl games, the Pop-Tarts Bowl has quickly become a popular destination for teams outside of the College Football Playoff.

Dubbed "the People's National Championship" that was originally founded as the Blockbuster Bowl in 1990, the $6 million bowl game is contracted to include a Big 12 and ACC opponent — though Notre Dame was initially planned to replace the ACC team before the 11th-ranked Fighting Irish backed out of bowl season following their Playoff snub.

BYU, too, was among the snubs of the 12-team Playoff field with its No. 12 ranking by the CFP selection committee. That's unofficially the second team out, with No. 20 Tulane and No. 24 James Madison vaulting into the bracket as two of the five highest-ranked conference champions.

A win over Georgia Tech, then, just might show the committee what they were missing, Glasker pontificated.

"We thought we should have been in the playoff," he said bluntly. "I feel like that's enough of a driving factor for us, and I feel like we're going to be ready for the bowl game.

"I feel like if we can get a win here, we can show the committee what the Big 12 is really about."

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