Skip to main content
Cougs Daily

What We’ve Learned, and What Questions Remain, at the Midpoint of BYU Fall Camp

The BYU football program has wrapped up the first two weeks of Fall Camp
Casey Lundquist|
BYU QB Bear Bachmeier at Fall Camp
BYU QB Bear Bachmeier at Fall Camp | BYU Photo

In this story:

BYU Cougars

The first two weeks of Fall Camp are in the books. On Saturday, BYU wrapped up a scrimmage in Lavell Edwards Stadium. The scrimmage consisted of 102 plays and the offense won the day. With week two in the rearview mirror, we've reached the midpoint of Fall Camp. There are a handful of things we have learned, and some questions that still remain, after two weeks.

What We've Learned

1. Bear Bachmeier is so much further ahead than he was at this point last year

After the first scrimmage of 2025 Fall Camp, the BYU coaching staff told the media that the defense won the day. The Cougars were still rotating three quarterbacks with the first-team offense, and eventual starter Bear Bachmeier was just starting to figure things out. Fast forward to Saturday and the BYU offense won the day, including multiple explosive plays for touchdowns.

Bachmeier is much better at reading the BYU defense, attacking the weaknesses in coverage, and executing on deep throws. During one practice last year, Bachmeier took multiple coverage sacks as he struggled to find open receivers. This year, Bachmeier is decisive. Whether that translates to the games remains to be seen, but as far as practice settings go, Bachmeier is unrecognizable compared to the true freshman version of himself.

2. There is a long list of weapons at Aaron Roderick's disposal

In the first few weeks of camp, BYU's tight ends have looked like the weapons BYU hoped they would be. The wide receivers have not looked like a group that will hold the offense back. Jojo Phillips has had his moments, Kyler Kasper has had his moments, Legend Glasker has looked ready to play right away, and Reggie Frischknecht has made highlight plays as well.

When you factor in the reigning Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year in LJ Martin, there is a growing list of weapons at Aaron Roderick's disposal. This roster is talented and deep, skill positions included.

3. This defense is fast

There is speed all over the field when BYU's starting defense takes the field. Evan Johnson is probably the fastest player on the roster, and Therrian Alexander III isn't too far behind him. Cade Uluave is really fast for a linebacker. Tommy Prassas has been in the backfield on multiple occassions, and even players like linebacker Jake Clifton have impressed us with their speed. On one play, Kennan Pula closed a throwing window so fast that he caused an accidental collision with Kila Keone.

This defense is fast. Kalani Sitake noted the team speed on the first day of Fall Camp, and we have seen that speed on display.

What Questions Remain

1. Is anyone going to emerge as BYU's star pass rusher?

We're still not sure who will emerge as BYU's best pass rusher. Ideally, it will be a defensive lineman that can get after the quarterback on every play. Last year, BYU's best pass rusher was Jack Kelly. Kelly wasn't asked to rush the passer on every play, so BYU's pass rush was lackluster at times.

If BYU is going to accomplish its goals, it needs to disrupt opposing quarterbacks. There won't be time to rotate multiple players and see who emerges, either. BYU plays veteran quarterback Noah Fifita in week two. If Fifita has time to camp out in a clean pocket, he will make the BYU defense pay.

It's not time to panic. In our opinion, the pass rush is one of the most difficult things to evaluate in a camp setting. Quarterbacks wear the green no contact jerseys, making it difficult to judge whether a play would have been a sack or not.

Still, BYU needs a star pass rusher. We don't know who that is going to be yet.

2. Who will be the go-to wide receiver?

We don't know who is going to end up as BYU's go-to wide receiver. Four wide receivers have looked like they could play that role through two weeks: Jojo Phillips, Kyler Kasper, Legend Glasker, and Reggie Frischknecht. This is a question that can't be fully answered until the season kicks off, but it would really benefit BYU's offense if a few wide receivers separate themselves over the next two weeks.

3. Can this team avoid the outside distractions and overcome the burden of preseason hype?

There is a lot of preseason expectations for this BYU football team. They will likely be ranked in the top 15 when the preseason AP poll is released. This is the first BYU team that has to deal with preseason expectations since the 2022 BYU team. That team, frankly, did not live up to the lofty preseason expectations.

There is a burden of preseason expectations. This team is saying all the right things, but until the season kicks off, we won't fully know how they have handled those expectations.

Last but not least, there is a lot of distractions inside the BYU athletic department. There is obvious contention between Kalani Sitake and Brian Santiago. BYU's attempt at calming the rumors by posting on CougarBoard only amplified the noise. Whether the anxiety from BYU fans, amplified by a few in the BYU community, is justified or not doesn't matter at this point. There is a lot of outside noise that could distract this team right before the season starts. BYU needs leadership to step in and clean up the mess. In the meantime, the players have to keep the main thing the main thing.

Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on X and Facebook for the latest news.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Loading recommendations... Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations

Published
Casey Lundquist
CASEY LUNDQUIST

Casey Lundquist is the publisher and lead editor of BYU On SI. He has covered BYU athletics since 2020. During that time, he has published over 3,500 stories that have reached millions of readers.

Share on XFollow casey_lundquist
Home/Football