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BYU Football Reportedly to Name True Freshman Bear Bachmer as Starting Quarterback

Casey Lundquist|
BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier at Fall Camp
BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier at Fall Camp | BYU Photo

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BYU Cougars

After a long quarterback battle that lasted through Fall Camp, the BYU football program has named the starting quarterback for the 2025 season. The Cougars will give the starting nod to true freshman and Stanford transfer Bear Bachmeier, according to ESPN's Pete Thamel.

Bachmeier beat out two quarterbacks with FBS experience to win the job - redshirt sophomore McCae Hillstead and redshirt junior Treyson Bourguet. Bachmeier will be the first true freshman to start at quarterback for BYU in week one.

BYU did not name a backup behind Bachmeier, but it's likely that McCae Hillstead will be the backup to Bachmeier given the competition for the starting job came down to Bachmeier and Hillstead.

It was just 108 days ago that Bachmeier committed to BYU. Bear was a four-star quarterback that signed with Stanford as part of the 2025 recruiting class. Bear held an offer from BYU out of high school before he decided to sign with Stanford. He also had competing offers from Georgia, Arkansas, Boise State, Colorado, Miami, Oregon, Notre Dame, Utah, and Texas A&M.

Shortly after Bear arrived at Stanford, Stanford fired head coach Troy Taylor. That prompted Bear to enter the transfer portal and his brother followed suit. Since Bachmeier was a BYU target coming out of high school and had an existing relationship with BYU's staff, the two sides came together and Bachmeier committed to the Cougars.

Bachmeier was originally slated to sit behind Jake Retzlaff and compete for the starting job in 2026. Then, the BYU quarterback situation was up-ended when Retzlaff unexpectedly left the program following an honor code suspension. That opened the door for a three-way quarterback battle between Bachmeier, Hillstead, and Bourguet.

The battle was trimmed from three to two after the first scrimmage as Treyson Bourguet was eliminated from contention.

Bachmeier came into the competition with the most upside, and he started to realize that upside much earlier than anticipated. Despite having only a couple months to learn the playbook and no college football experience, Bachmeier separated himself and made it clear that he was the best quarterback on BYU's roster.

Even on day one, his first practice as a BYU quarterback, Bachmeier stepped in and calmly delivered strikes from the pocket. Coming into camp, Bachmeier clearly had the physical tools to be a really effective runner - he ran for over 1,700 yards and 33 rushing touchdowns in high school - but his ability to sit in a pocket and deliver the football against college defenses remained to be seen. Bachmeier wasn't perfect, but he proved to be more college ready than anticipated.

With Bachmeier under center, the Cougars will turn to a true freshman to win now. The rest of the roster is ready to win at the highest levels in the Big 12. The production at quarterback will determine whether BYU will be in contention for the conference championship game or not.

Bachmeier will kickoff his BYU career in just 11 days when BYU takes on Portland State.

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Casey Lundquist
CASEY LUNDQUIST

Casey Lundquist is the publisher and lead editor of Cougs Daily. He has covered BYU athletics for the last four years. During that time, he has published over 2,000 stories that have reached more than three million people.

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