Bear Bachmeier has produced eight touchdowns in two games without throwing the ball to the wrong team. That earned him the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week award Monday.
It also earned him a much better question.
The summer question was whether Bachmeier could turn a strong freshman season into a cleaner sophomore one. He has done that for eight quarters. Now BYU gets to find out whether the clean operation travels.
The No. 11 Cougars visit 2-0 Colorado State on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. Mountain. Canvas Stadium will be full, the Rams have forced eight turnovers in two games, and quarterback Hauss Hejny has thrown nine touchdown passes. This is not a sleepy nonconference errand tucked between Big 12 games. It is a road test against a team that has spent September taking the ball away and scoring before everybody finds a seat.
Bachmeier’s award is deserved. The useful part is what he has to prove next.
The first two games were clean in different ways
BYU’s 63-7 opener against Utah Tech made almost every offensive number look cheerful. Bachmeier completed 16 of 20 passes for 198 yards and three touchdowns. He added 30 rushing yards and another score. The Cougars ran for 308 yards, converted 9 of 11 third downs and finished with 521 yards.
Arizona made him work longer. Bachmeier completed 16 of 26 for 217 yards and three touchdowns, ran for 37 yards and scored BYU’s first touchdown himself. He absorbed a first half in which Arizona controlled the ball, then threw two fourth-quarter touchdowns to Kyler Kasper after BYU finally took control.
Put the two finalized WMT game files together and the opening line looks like this:
| Measure | Utah Tech | Arizona | Two-game total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Completions-attempts | 16-20 | 16-26 | 32-46 |
| Completion rate | 80.0% | 61.5% | 69.6% |
| Passing yards | 198 | 217 | 415 |
| Passing touchdowns | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| Interceptions | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rushing yards | 30 | 37 | 67 |
| Rushing touchdowns | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Total touchdowns | 4 | 4 | 8 |
The official BYU release adds the historical hook: Bachmeier is the fourth Big 12 player to open a season with at least three passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown in consecutive games. Baker Mayfield, Patrick Mahomes and Mason Rudolph are the other three.
That is excellent company. It is not a forecast.
The better evidence is the zero in the interception column. BYU did not need Bachmeier to chase 350 passing yards in either win. He took the throws available in the opener, survived Arizona’s first-half possession squeeze and avoided giving either opponent a short field with a forced ball.
Our Arizona recap focused on the defense’s second-half correction. Bachmeier benefited from it. Once BYU stopped the run and won the fourth-down review, the quarterback did not waste the extra possession. He found Legend Glasker for 61 yards, then Kasper for the touchdown that put the game out of reach.
That is what controlled aggression looks like in a box score. The next defense has built its entire September around punishing the opposite version.
Colorado State has eight reasons to protect the ball
Colorado State opened the Jim Mora era by beating Wyoming 35-13. The Rams intercepted three passes, finished the game with a strip sack and did not turn the ball over. Wyoming went 0-for-8 on third down.
A week later, Colorado State forced four more turnovers in a 58-24 win over Southern Utah. Oumar Diomande had an interception and a fumble recovery. CJ Blocker added an interception. Tre’shawn Moore recovered another fumble.
That gives the Rams eight takeaways in two games. The opponents are not BYU, and Southern Utah still gained 442 yards, so nobody needs to pretend Colorado State has already built the 1985 Bears. But eight extra possessions can ruin a road game before the better roster settles in.
BYU has committed one turnover through two games, a fumble against Utah Tech. Bachmeier has protected the football while throwing six touchdowns, and his two sacks have cost only 15 yards. The first road assignment asks him to preserve that discipline when the pre-snap picture is louder and the opening script matters more.
Canvas Stadium drew 40,548 for the Wyoming game. Colorado State is home for a third straight Saturday, 2-0 for the first time since 2011 and playing a ranked regional opponent on CBS. BYU will not get the calm version of Fort Collins.
That makes the first quarter worth more than the usual warmup. Arizona held the ball for more than 12 minutes in the opening quarter and made BYU wait. Colorado State has shown the opposite threat. It led Southern Utah 14-0 after 99 seconds and scored 24 points in the final 3:24 of the first half.
The Rams do not need a long, tidy drive to change a game. A turnover and one explosive pass will do.
This quarterback matchup can get silly fast
Bachmeier is not the only quarterback carrying a loud September stat line.
Hejny threw five touchdowns in his Colorado State debut against Wyoming. He followed with 325 passing yards, four passing touchdowns, 85 rushing yards and a 75-yard rushing score against Southern Utah. His nine touchdown passes through two games match a Colorado State record for a two-game stretch.
The opponent matters here, too. Wyoming allowed five touchdown passes. Southern Utah allowed 678 total yards. BYU’s defense is a larger and faster test than either one.
Still, Colorado State has already shown what it wants to be. Hejny attacks downfield, can escape with his legs and has several receivers involved. Mel Brown ran for 171 yards on only nine carries against Southern Utah. Jackson Harper caught six passes for 102 yards. The Rams recorded 13 explosive plays in that game.
This is where Bachmeier’s restraint becomes offense, even when BYU does not score.
A punt after two first downs can change field position. A sack can be survived. An incompletion on a covered shot can be the correct decision. The dangerous response would be treating every Hejny explosive as a personal challenge and trying to answer it with one throw.
Bachmeier’s first two games did not require that. BYU ran for 308 yards in the opener and LJ Martin carried 20 times for 98 yards against Arizona. The Cougars can make Colorado State defend a full drive instead of turning Saturday into quarterback HORSE.
The Colorado State game center is the permanent home for the matchup, and the football schedule has the verified 5:30 p.m. Mountain kickoff at Canvas Stadium on CBS. A dedicated watch guide will add the final radio and streaming paths when this game enters the 48-hour window. This article is about the test before the television details take over.
The award should raise the standard, not the volume
Player of the Week awards are receipts. They are not armor.
Bachmeier accounted for all four BYU touchdowns against Arizona. He joined three famous Big 12 quarterbacks with his two-game scoring pattern. He has been efficient enough to keep the full offense available and careful enough to keep the defense out of emergency situations.
The weak part of the case is obvious: both games were at LaVell Edwards Stadium, and one came against an FCS opponent. Saturday removes both comforts.
A strong road performance does not require four more touchdowns. It requires Bachmeier to get BYU lined up, communicate through noise, identify Colorado State’s pressure and refuse the throws that feed an eight-takeaway defense. If the Rams crowd the run, he has to punish the correct matchup. If they disguise coverage, he has to be willing to reach the next snap.
That is less glamorous than joining Mayfield, Mahomes and Rudolph in a conference note. It is also how a quarterback turns a September award into something BYU can use in October.
The Cougars have TCU after the bye, followed by Iowa State and Notre Dame. The schedule is about to stop offering many gentle corrections. Bachmeier’s first two games showed that the offense can score with him without depending entirely on him.
Fort Collins will show whether it can stay that way when the other team starts fast, the crowd leans in and one bad decision is worth an extra possession.
Eight touchdowns got Bachmeier the plaque. Protecting the football on the road would be the better receipt.
Sources and further reading
- BYU Athletics: Bachmeier and Akana earn Big 12 weekly honors for Bachmeier’s award, Arizona line, two-game touchdown total and Big 12 historical note.
- WMT Statistics: finalized Utah Tech game and player statistics for BYU’s opener totals and Bachmeier’s individual line.
- WMT Statistics: finalized Arizona game and player statistics for the Arizona totals and Bachmeier’s individual line.
- Colorado State Athletics: Wyoming recap for Hejny’s five-touchdown debut, Colorado State’s four takeaways and the Canvas Stadium attendance.
- Colorado State Athletics: Southern Utah recap for the 58-24 final, 678 yards, 13 explosive plays, Hejny’s five total touchdowns and the Rams’ second four-takeaway game.
- Times-Call: Colorado State’s 2-0 start for independent reporting on the Southern Utah game, the first-half scoring bursts and individual production.
- BYU Athletics: official Colorado State event record for the Sept. 19 date, 5:30 p.m. Mountain kickoff, Canvas Stadium and away-game status.
