BYU Cougars' QB Receives Fantastic Performance Grade Against Iowa State Cyclones

The Iowa State Cyclones defense was ripped apart in Week 9 by a talented freshman.

Sep 14, 2024; Laramie, Wyoming, USA; A general view of the Brigham Young Cougars helmet against the Wyoming Cowboys during the second quarter at Jonah Field at War Memorial Stadium. | Troy Babbitt-Imagn Images

The Iowa State Cyclones lost their third straight game to the BYU Cougars and in the loss the star quarterback of the Cougars exceeded the hype. 

It was an extremely disappointing week for the Cyclones, coming off their bye in a game that they had to have. To start, things actually looked great for Iowa State. They jumped BYU early and looked like they had the chance to put them away early. 

However, mistakes and missed opportunities resulted in them blowing the lead and they ended up losing by two scores. While there was a fair number of places to put the blame for the collapse, the performance of Rocco Becht wasn’t good enough for them in this one. 

For the second straight game, Becht was outplayed by the opposing quarterback, and Iowa State suffered because of it. Even though he has the reputation of not making mistakes, he made a couple of critical ones in this game. Unfortunately, his counterpart didn’t and lifted his team to victory. Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report gave Bear Bachmeier of BYU the grade of an ‘A’ for his outstanding performance. 

Bachmeier Exceeds Expectations

Reese Strickland-Imagn Images

Being a freshman quarterback and playing on the road is never easy, but the young signal caller made it look simple in the win. Bachmeier totaled 307 passing yards, two passing touchdowns, 49 rushing touchdowns, and one rushing score. 

Due to an early injury to running back LJ Martin, the Cougars needed their freshman quarterback to step up, and he certainly did just that. It was one of his best passing performances of the year, and he performed well on the ground as well. 

The freshman is a really talented dual-threat quarterback, and he was able to exploit a vulnerable Cyclones defense in this one. Injuries to the secondary have clearly become too much for the team to overcome as shown in the last couple of weeks. Quarterbacks are easily getting some big plays against the unit, and unfortunately that likely won’t get much better. 

Iowa State’s passing defense is going to be tested in a significant way against Sam Leavitt and the Sun Devils. While their season also hasn’t gone according to plan, they are still going to be a tough matchup against the Cyclones. 

Overall, the defense that was supposed to be a strength of the team simply isn’t the unit that it was in the beginning of the year due to injuries. However, if Iowa State can clean up some mistakes, they can still finish the campaign on a strong note.