There was little reason to believe that BYU football could replicate the success of 2024 when quarterback Jake Retzlaff left the program. In a year that saw the Cougars leap from the second-lowest projected team in the Big 12's preseason poll all the way to a tie for first place, many suspected that the Cougars were just fortunate to have taken advantage of a weak schedule.
With a true freshman quarterback taking over in week one (the first such starter in program history), Bear Bachmeier not only shouldered the burden of maintaining the momentum of last season's breakout but would be forced to lead the team with a very limited knowledge of the playbook. After all, he transferred to the program after spring practice had wrapped up.
Not ideal for a team with Big 12 Championship aspirations. But the Cougs turned out alright, didn't they?
Bachmeier was even better than advertised as a freshman, and with a year of experience under his belt, Aaron Rodericks' maverick under center is poised to take a leap as a sophomore. College Football expert David Pollack seems convinced that Bear will do just that.
"Bear could get them there," Pollack began on his show 'See Ball Get Ball with David Pollack.' "They're already going to be [...] extremely physical, extremely tough, not going to beat themselves, great special teams in a league where it's going to be decided by margins. Bear is a dude... I'm in."
Pollack, a mainstay in the world of college football and former member of the ESPN College Gameday panel, knows what he's talking about when it comes to BYU football and where they could end up in the greater scheme of the Big 12 Conference.
But as great as Bear promises to be in his second year at the wheel, it's the running game and defensive continuity that will make or break BYU football in 2026.
The good news? BYU avoids Texas Tech, the odds-on favorite to go back-to-back through the Big 12 with or without Brendan Sorsby, through the regular season. Utah, the Cougars' rival and third place in the conference race last season, was gutted by the departure of Kyle Whittingham, and could struggle to piece the puzzle together in Morgan Scalley's first season, despite his years with the program.
The bad news? BYU lost a key piece of its identity with the departure of Jay Hill, who joined Whittingham in his Beehive State exodus to Ann Arbor this offseason. Somehow, someway, Kelly Poppinga managed to hold the pieces together and retain every key player in the Cougars' stout defensive unit despite Hill's exit, but we can't be certain where his leadership and direction will lead one of the Big 12's most fearsome defensive units until we see it in action.
With another year under his belt, however, Bear Bachmeier seems to be the ideal signal-caller to maintain the offensive status quo that led the Cougars to a 12-win season in '25. BYU football hasn't hit the wall after two straight College Football Playoff snubs -- they're knocking on the door.
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