Bear Bachmeier Took Full Advantage of Iowa State Cyclones Undermanned Defensive Unit

BYU Cougars quarterback Bear Bachmeier had all of the answers when trying to beat the Iowa State Cyclones defense.

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The Iowa State Cyclones knew their season was on the line in Week 9 against the BYU Cougars. Coming off a bye and riding a two-game winning streak, they needed to pick up a victory.

In the early going, it certainly looked like they were going to achieve that goal. They were dominating every facet of the game, moving the ball down the field at will on offense and generating stops defensively.

Everything the coaching staff looked to have emphasized and worked on during the week off was producing positive results. Alas, things unraveled after an uncharacteristic mistake from quarterback Rocco Becht.

Already in field goal range, he threw an interception on first down when facing some pressure. There wasn’t an Iowa State pass catcher in the area, so a miscommunication of some sort likely occurred.

From that point on, it was all BYU. The Cyclones had a chance to extend their lead to 13 or 17 points had Becht not thrown the interception. But it turned the tide of the game, and the Cougars took full advantage.

Iowa State could not capitalize on early success against BYU

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They would score on five consecutive drives. The final one was aided by a special teams blunder from Beni Ngoyi, who kicked the ball by accident on punt coverage, making it live and BYU jumped on top of it.

Just as was the case during the first two losses in this streak, a major reason Iowa State lost was its inability to contain a productive quarterback. Just like Brendan Sorsby and Kaidon Salter before him, Bear Bachmeier torched the Cyclones when needed, resulting in a 41-27 final score.

Early on, Iowa State was giving him and the Cougars’ offense fits. Defensive coordinator Jon Heacock was being more aggressive with the play calling, sending extra rushers with regularity.

Unable to read where the blitzes were coming from, the correct protections were not put into place. Another advantage Iowa State had was the lack of a rushing attack for BYU, with multiple running backs going down with injuries.

Alas, it didn’t matter in the end. Once Bachmeier found a rhythm, it was over for an undermanned Cyclones secondary.

Iowa State could not slow Bear Bachmeier down once he got on a roll

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“Geez, we allowed him to get into a rhythm. I think we wanted to get into a football game where we could try to dictate the line of scrimmage. I felt like we were able to do that early on,” head coach Matt Campbell said, via Alec Busse of Cyclone Alert, part of the 247Sports Network (subscription required).

He ended up completing 22 of 35 passes for 307 yards and two touchdowns. 49 yards and another score were added on the ground, consistently keeping plays alive with his legs.

Doing a majority of the damage on the receiving end for the Cougars were Parker Kingston and Chase Roberts. They caught seven and eight passes, respectively, going off for 133 and 128 yards apiece.

Bear ➡️ Kingston 🔥@BYUFootball makes it a one-score game just before the half pic.twitter.com/nyeNuNtNk8

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 25, 2025

Kingston caught both of Bachmeier’s passing touchdowns. BYU took full advantage of a secondary still finding its way without injured stars Jeremiah Cooper and Jontez Williams.

“I think a little bit of that communication-wise, we just gotta keep pounding away with. There's some youth out there that's playing, and we just gotta be better. But certainly tip your hat to him, he's an outstanding football player,” Campbell added.

Things won’t get any easier for Iowa State, which will face the Arizona State Sun Devils next. If healthy, they have a dynamic duo of Sam Leavitt at quarterback with Jordyn Tyson at wide receiver as well.