Freshman Bear Bachmeier to start at QB for BYU

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Bear Bachmeier has won the quarterback competition at BYU, coach Kalani Sitake said Tuesday.

“He settled it on the field. He gives us the best chance to win right now,” Sitake said.

He will become the first true freshman in program history to start Week 1 when the Cougars open against Portland State on Aug. 30, ESPN reported.

Bachmeier will wear the unusual QB number of 47, which he showed off in a social media video while dressed as a bear.

It’s a quick turn for BYU, which saw starter Jake Retzlaff withdraw from school on July 11 amid news BYU intended to suspend him for seven games over a violation of the school’s honor code.

Retzlaff now is at Tulane.

Bachmeier initially committed to Stanford and spent the spring in Palo Alto, but he entered the transfer portal in May and headed to BYU. Transferring with him from Stanford was his older brother, Tiger.

Tiger caught 46 passes for 476 yards and two touchdowns over two seasons at Stanford.

The Bachmeier name could sound familiar. Oldest brother Hank concluded his six-year career as a college quarterback in 2024 with Wake Forest after previously playing for Boise State and Louisiana Tech.

Bear was a four-star recruit, as ranked by the 247Sports composite, in the Class of 2025. Tiger was a three-star in the 2023 class. The brothers are from Murrieta, Calif.

Bachmeier bested transfers Treyson Bourguet, a redshirt junior from Western Michigan, and redshirt sophomore McCae Hillstead from Utah State, to win the starting job.

The Cougars finished 11-2 in 2024 in his second season in the Big 12.

–Field Level Media