3,500-Yard QB Named Best True Freshman Quarterback in College Football

A quarterback at a Power Four college football program has been labeled as the best among true freshmen in 2025.

BYU Cougars quarterback Bear Bachmeier (47) looks to pass against the Texas Tech Red Raiders | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Nearly six months lie between the end of February and the first weekend of the 2026 college football season.

Many of the most impactful players from the 2025 college football season will be on another team in 2026, either in the NFL or somewhere else in college football.

However, some players are remaining with the programs they played for in 2026 to add to their bodies of work. One player that stayed put is BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier, who enters his second season as the Cougars' starter in 2026.

The football lineage in Bachmeier's family runs strong. His brother, Hank Bachmeier, played quarterback at Boise State from 2019 to 2022 before spending a season each at Louisiana Tech and Wake Forest. His other brother, Tiger Bachmeier, played two seasons at Stanford before joining him at BYU.

Bachmeier's path to becoming the Cougars' starting quarterback was anything but conventional. The 6-foot-2, 220-pounder committed to Stanford as a three-star signee, ranking as the No. 34 quarterback in the class of 2025.

BYU Cougars quarterback Bear Bachmeier (47) throws the ball against the West Virginia Mountaineers | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

Bachmeier enrolled in classes for the spring semester at Stanford and went through spring practice with the Cardinal. On March 25, 2025, former Stanford quarterback and newly-named general manager Andrew Luck fired head coach Troy Taylor due to an ongoing investigation involving the bullying and belittlement of female staffers. Bachmeier entered the NCAA transfer portal after spring practice ended and committed to BYU in early May.

The 6-foot-2, 220-pounder was not supposed to take over as a starter when he arrived at BYU in 2025. The Cougars had an incumbent starter in Jake Retzlaff, who threw for close to 3,000 yards and led BYU to an 11-win season in 2024. Retzlaff transferred from BYU to Tulane in the summer due to sexual assault charges against him that were later dropped.

In late August, BYU named Bachmeier its starting quarterback. In his first season with the Cougars, Bachmeier threw for 3,033 yards, 15 touchdowns and seven interceptions and ran for 527 yards and 11 more touchdowns while guiding the Cougars to 12 wins and a Big 12 Championship appearance. He eclipsed 300 passing yards in the Cougars' wins over West Virginia, Iowa State and Georgia Tech.

The Big 12 named Bachmeier its Offensive Freshman of the Year in 2025. Additionally, Bachmeier received the highest grade from Pro Football Focus among true freshman quarterbacks at the end of the 2025 season.

The hope for Bachmeier and the Cougars in 2026 is to finally reach the College Football Playoff after finishing near the top of the Big 12 for the last two seasons. BYU does not play any College Football Playoff participants from a season ago in 2026, although it will play a pair of 10-win teams in Utah and Notre Dame.