How BYU QB Bear Bachmeier Stacks Up Against Big 12 Peers After Colorado Win

BYU true freshman quarterback Bear Bachmeier is growing up before our eyes. After a slow start against Colorado, Bachmeier settled in and led the BYU offense on three touchdown drives of 75 yards or more. Colorado emphasized slowing down LJ Martin and Bachmeier took advantage of it.

Bachmeier appears to be taking the step of going from doing enough to win games to being a weapon for BYU. There will still be growing pains and his progress won't always be linear, but he is clearly heading in right direction. In this article, we will compare Bachmeier's stats to those of his Big 12 peers after his first career starts.

Yards Per Game

Since the number of pass attempts varies so widely across the conference, we will look at total yards per game (passing yards + rushing yards). Bachmeier is averaging just 215 yards per game, although he has averaged 275 yards per game over the last two games. A 275 average would rank fourth among the 16 Big 12 starters.

344 - Sawyer Robertson (Baylor)
309 - Josh Hoover (TCU)
294 - Brendan Sorsby (Cincinnati)
266 - Behren Morton (Texas Tech)
264 - Sam Leavitt (Arizona State)
257 - Devon Dampier (Utah)
256 - Jalon Daniels (Kansas)
255 - Noah Fifita (Arizona)
238 - Conner Weigman (Houston)
231 - Avery Johnson (Kansas State)
228 - Roccce Becht (Iowa State)
222 - Kaidon Salter (Colorado)
221 - Tayven Jackson (UCF)
215 - Bear Bachmeier (BYU)
194 - Nicco Marchiol (WVU)
183 - Zane Flores

Total TD/Turnover Ratio

Bear Bachmeier has been elite in terms of protecting the football. He's also been able to punch the ball in the endzone and finish drives. In terms of total touchdowns (pass touchdowns + rushing downs) to total turnovers (interceptions + fumbles lost), Bachmeier has the best ratio in the conference.

Bear Bachmeier - 10:0
Connor Weigman - 8:0
Brendan Sorsby - 12:1
Avery Johnson - 10:1
Kaidon Salter - 9:1
Sawyer Robertson - 6:1
Tayven Jackson - 6:1
Noah Fifita - 5.5:1
Jalon Daniels - 4.3:1
Devon Dampier - 4.3:1
Rocco Becht - 4:1
Behren Morton - 3.7:1
Sam Leavitt - 3.3:1
Josh Hoover - 2.4:1
Nicco Marchiol - 1.5:1
Zane Flores - 0.5:1

Accuracy & Aggressiveness

Bachmeier currently ranks sixth in terms of accuracy rate among Big 12 quarterbacks. 76% of his passes have been accurate which ranks 45th nationally.

However, accuracy rate is typically a function of how aggressive a quarterback is. The more they push the ball down the field, the more inaccurate balls they will throw. While the data is still a little skewed given the limited sample size and the varying levels of competition, here's a look at Big 12 quarterbacks.

Big 12 quarterbacks accuracy and aggressiveness | BYU On SI

Sam Leavitt and Sawyer Robertson are the biggest surprises on this list. Leavitt and Robertson rank 110th and 115th, respectively in accuracy and the average depth of their targets is low. In other words, they should be way more accurate than they have been this season. Both ASU and Baylor will underperform preseason expectations unless those two quarterbacks improve.

First Downs per Dropback

Jake Retzlaff was good in some areas and bad in other areas. The one area where Retzlaff was elite in 2024? Getting first downs with either his arm or his legs. That was the biggest void for BYU to fill with Retzlaff's departure.

Bachmeier hasn't replaced the Retzlaff level of production in this regard, but he has been above average nationally at racking up first downs both through the air and on the ground. Bachmeier ranks 37th nationally in first downs accounted for per dropback.

.45 - Brendan Sorsby (Cincinnati)
.44 - Jalon Daniels (Kansas)
.41 - Behren Morton (Texas Tech)
.38 - Josh Hoover (TCU)
.38 - Bear Bachmeier (BYU)
.37 - Kaidon Salter (Colorado)
.36 - Rocco Becht (Iowa State)
.34 - Sam Leavitt (ASU)
.33 - Devon Dampier (Utah)
.32 - Sawyer Robertston (Baylor)
.31 - Conner Weigman (Houston)
.3 - Avery Johnson (Kansas State)
.3 - Noah Fifita (Arizona)
.28 - Tayven Jackson (UCF)
.27 - Nicco Marchiol (WVU)
.25 - Zane Flores (Oklahoma State)

Turnover-Worthy Plays

One area where Bachmeier has been great is taking care of the football. Traditionally, that's an area where true freshmen struggle, but that hasn't been the case for Bachmeier. Bachmeier hasn't thrown any interceptions through three games and PFF considered only two of his throws as "turnover worthy."

Bachmeier ranks third in the Big 12 in turnover-worthy play rate and in the 31st nationally. If Bachmeier continues to take care of the football in conference play, BYU will be in every game.

1.3% - Noah Fifita (Arizona)
1.5% - Brendan Sorsby (Cincinnati)
1.8% - Bear Bachmeier (BYU)
1.8% - Behren Morton (Texas Tech)
2.1% - Rocco Becht (Iowa State)
2.2% - Devon Dampier (Utah)
2.5% - Kaidon Salter (Colorado)
2.5% - Nicco Marchiol (WVU)
2.7% - Jalon Daniels (Kansas)
2.8% - Sawyer Robertston (Baylor)
3.0% - Conner Weigman (Houston)
3.5% - Zane Flores (Oklahoma State)
4.3% - Sam Leavitt (ASU)
4.4% - Tayven Jackson (UCF)
5.0% - Josh Hoover (TCU)
7.2% - Avery Johnson (Kansas State)

Average Time to Throw

If you have watched Bear Bachmeier and thought that he looks decisive, your eyes are not deceiving you. Bachmeier has the fastest time to throw (ATT) in the Big 12 and he is sixth nationally. Bachmeier is processing quickly.

2.35 - Bear Bachmeier (BYU)
2.47 - Josh Hoover (TCU)
2.55 - Sawyer Robertston (Baylor)
2.58 - Rocco Becht (Iowa State)
2.59 - Nicco Marchiol (WVU)
2.63 - Behren Morton (Texas Tech)
2.68 - Tayven Jackson (UCF)
2.69 - Devon Dampier (Utah)
2.72 - Zane Flores (Oklahoma State)
2.72 - Avery Johnson (Kansas State)
2.77 - Brendan Sorsby (Cincinnati)
2.89 - Conner Weigman (Houston)
2.99 - Jalon Daniels (Kansas)
3.09 - Sam Leavitt (ASU)
3.15 - Noah Fifita (Arizona)
3.45 - Kaidon Salter (Colorado)

NFL QB Rating

The NFL QB rating is "a statistic that measures a quarterback's overall passing performance based on completion percentage, yards per attempt, touchdown percentage, and interception percentage." Bear Bachmeier has a QB rating of 113.1 through four games. That is 21st in college football and fourth in the Big 12.

131.6 - Jalon Daniels (Kansas)
126.9 - Behren Morton (Texas Tech)
125.5 - Brendan Sorsby (Cincinnati)
113.1 - Bear Bachmeier (BYU)
110.8 - Josh Hoover (TCU)
109.6 - Sawyer Robertston (Baylor)
107.7 - Rocco Becht (Iowa State)
106.5 - Devon Dampier (Utah)
104.5 - Kaidon Salter (Colorado)
100.2 - Conner Weigman (Houston)
99.4 - Noah Fifita (Arizona)
96.3 - Avery Johnson (Kansas State)
95.7 - Tayven Jackson (UCF)
90.7 - Sam Leavitt (ASU)
86.6 - Nicco Marchiol (WVU)
64.3 - Zane Flores (Oklahoma State)

Offense Grades

PFF grades are a decent (although imperfect) way to split out the impact a quarterback had on a game versus the pure statistical output. PFF attempts to strip out the noise and grades a quarterback on how they performed relative to the situations that they were put in. Were they making the right reads? How did they perform under pressure? Were they throwing receivers open or throwing to wide open receivers? All those things go into PFF grades. Bachmeier ranks ninth in the Big 12 in overall offensive PFF grades and he ranks 66th nationally.

92.2 - Noah Fifita (Arizona)
87.7 - Rocco Becht (Iowa State)
84.8 - Avery Johnson (Kansas State)
84.4 - Kaidon Salter (Colorado)
83.8 - Tayven Jackson (UCF)
79.6 - Sam Leavitt (ASU)
79.4 - Josh Hoover (TCU)
77.3 - Brendan Sorsby (Cincinnati)
73.9 - Bear Bachmeier (BYU)
73.6 - Sawyer Robertston (Baylor)
70.7 - Devon Dampier (Utah)
70.1 - Behren Morton (Texas Tech)
69.2 - Nicco Marchiol (WVU)
68.2 - Zane Flores (Oklahoma State)
65.5 - Conner Weigman (Houston)
63.9 - Jalon Daniels (Kansas)