Welcome to Too Optimistic Tuesday! This weekly column reminds BYU fans why they should count their many blessings and have an abundance of hope. Every season in every sport is full of both ups and downs. This column will amplify the "ups" and help fans quickly recover from the "downs". So put on your blue-tinted goggles and just enjoy your BYU fandom for a moment.
Bear Bachmeier is looking like an all-time great quarterback
What Bear Bachmeier has done through four games as a 19-year-old freshman quarterback is remarkable. He arrived in Provo this summer expecting to be Jake Retzlaff's understudy on a team with legitimate aspirations of winning the Big 12. After Retzlaff withdrew from BYU, Bear then won the starting quarterback job over McCae Hillstead and Treyson Bourget, two talented quarterbacks with previous Division I starting experience and a year in BYU's system under their belts.
In that incredibly short period of time, Bear Bachmeier won the trust of head coach Kalani Sitake and offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick. They handed him the keys to the offense and through four games BYU's freshman signal caller has already shown flashes of possessing some of the best traits of former Cougar legends.
He has Taysom Hill's legs
Few things in recent BYU football history have been more exhilarating than watching a healthy Taysom Hill run wild against opposing defenses. Unlike many dual-threat QBs who avoid contact, Taysom delighted in bowling over and running through would-be tacklers.
Many of us remember Taysom's 259 rushing yards against Texas in 2013. He churned out 165 yards against Middle Tennessee State and 160 against Houston. Hill had nine 100-yard rushing games and ran for 2,815 yards in his glorious BYU career.
Bear Bachmeier has Taysom Hill's legs and shares his "I'm going to run right over you" mentality. The 6-foot-2, 220-pound quarterback wears No. 47 for a reason.
While Bachmeier doesn't possess Taysom Hill's speed, he has already proven to be a very effective, physical runner. Against Colorado he eclipsed 100 rushing yards until finishing with 98 after some kneel downs at the end of the game. On the season he has 163 rushing yards and four touchdowns.
One of the biggest plays in the win against Colorado was Bachmeier's 16-yard run on 3rd-and-17 in the fourth quarter. His ability to run the ball set the Cougars up for a 4th-and-1, which they converted. Three plays later Cody Hagen exploded for a 32-yard touchdown run to give BYU a 24-21 lead, which proved to be the final score.
The physicality and effectiveness with which Bear Bachmeier runs the ball has shades of Taysom Hill's glory days in Provo.
He has Zach Wilson's accuracy
While it's nice to have a quarterback who can run, they also need to be able to throw.
Through four games Bear Bachmeier has completed 61-of-90 attempts, or 67.8% of his passes. He has yet to throw an interception or lose a fumble.
To put that in context, last year Jake Retzlaff competed 57.9% of his throws. In 2023 Kedon Slovis had a 57.5% completion rate. Jaren Hall's career completion percentage at BYU was 65.2%.
But the most accurate passer in recent BYU history was Zach Wilson. As a freshman in 2018 Wilson completed 65.9% in nine games, a mark slightly below Bachmeier's 67.8% rate. Wilson ultimately completed 67.6% of career attempts in his glorious BYU career, essentially mirroring Bachmeier's performance thus far.
Now, Bear hasn't faced his toughest tests yet. We will know more about him as a pocket passer after the four-game gauntlet starting October 18th of Utah, Iowa State, Texas Tech, and TCU. But at least through four games, Bachmeier's handle of the offense, decision making, and accuracy is light years ahead of where it should be for a freshman who just recently joined the team.
He has Jim McMahon's confidence
Between 1977 and 1981, Jim McMahon oozed confidence as BYU's quarterback. When he took over the starting job in 1978 for an injured Marc Wilson, his teammate Clay Brown was quoted as saying, "Jim came in with so much confidence, it was like he had been there for ten years."
It takes a certain level of unshakeable confidence to pull off miracles, or at least a Miracle Bowl.
Bear Bachmeier showed his confidence leading BYU's offense back from an early 14-0 deficit last week to win on the road at Colorado. He made big play after big play while avoiding negative plays. After the game senior wide receiver and team captain Chase Roberts said about his young quarterback, "I think the biggest thing is his confidence level — knowing that he can sling it and throw at this level and being able to read the defenses."
Through four games, Bear Bachmeier's confidence is growing, as is the confidence his teammates have in him.
While Bear Bachmeier shares Jim McMahon's confidence, he expresses it very differently from the BYU legend. Where McMahon was cocky, brash, and defiant, Bachmeier is equally thoughtful, humble, and even keeled. But deep down in his DNA, BYU's young quarterback has some confidence-related genes in common with the great Jim McMahon.
Let's be too optimistic about Bear!
The purpose of Too Optimistic Tuesday is to be just that - overly optimistic. Hope, positive energy, and even a dusting of irrational exuberance have a home here.
Only time will tell how Bear Bachmeier's career at BYU will play out. He's young, he has only played four games, and he hasn't yet faced his greatest tests. While it's very early to compare him to former BYU greats, we by design choose to be (too) optimistic here.
And until proven otherwise, Bear Bachmeier is on track to become a BYU legend.