Bear Bachmeier debuts as BYU football routs Portland State at LaVell Edwards Stadium

Bachmeier threw for 97 yards before being pulled after two quarters.

Provo • As BYU opened its first drive on Saturday night, tight end Carsen Ryan saw an unfamiliar side to the Cougars’ true freshman quarterback

“You could tell he had a little butterflies,” Ryan said.

For the last month, Bear Bachmeier has announced himself as the unlikely leader at BYU’s quarterback factory. The 19-year-old has seemed like his ascent never fazed him. But as he stared out at 64,000 fans, he finally gave himself a moment to act his age.

In the process, he nearly threw an interception on a pass intended for Chase Roberts.

“First game in [LaVell Edwards Stadium] and, I mean, that kind of happens,” Bachmeier said. “Obviously, we don’t want that to happen. Unfortunately, it did.”

Either way, it didn’t last long in BYU’s 69-point blowout over Portland State. Bachmeier went on to account for five touchdowns and 97 passing yards before being pulled before intermission.

He settled into his role as BYU’s leader. And that is about the only thing you could learn from an opener against an opponent that’s now lost a combined 101-0 in its first two weeks.

“I think some of the throws he wished he could get back,” head coach Kalani Sitake said. “I think it’s hard when you get into this environment. I don’t know if he was ready for the stands to be that packed. But overall, I thought he had a good demeanor. I thought he had a great presence. The guys felt really good about him being in the offense.”

Beyond a good presence, though, it is hard to say what will translate from a game where BYU outgained Portland State 606-51. Bachmeier only threw the ball more than 20 yards a handful of times. And offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick was more than happy to run the ball 48 times compared to just 18 total passes.

Bachmeier finished 7-for-11 passing with three passing touchdowns and two rushing scores.

At one point in the third quarter, Portland State had negative-9 yards on the ground. Even defensive tackle John Taumoepeau was shocked. BYU wanted to hold the Vikings to under 75 rushing yards. Instead, Portland State never reached 75 yards total.

By the end of the night, Portland State’s coach Bruce Barnum at least gave his impressions of the young quarterback.

“I watched him during pregame because I was hoping that his height wasn’t right or his weight wasn’t right,” Barnum said after the game. “Then I looked at his ass and then his legs. He looked like a goddam centaur. Durable, fast, smart. I liked his release. … He’s a good football player.”

In the coming days, Sitake will try to find ways to critique this film. There were penalties that bothered him, including one that wiped away a 42-yard punt return.

There were some decisions from Bachmeier that won’t work in the Big 12. He had a pass to Cody Hagen that was overthrown and nearly picked. He missed Parker Kingston wide open in the first quarter.

“There’s a lot of places that we can improve on,” Sitake said.

Bachmeier is going to remember the first drive when the Cougars had to punt it away after he missed Roberts.

“Our first series could definitely be better,” Bachmeier said. “You want to get first downs. But that happens in the first game. I think next week we will come out with our hair on fire.”

But mostly, BYU will simply turn the page to Stanford next week. The Cardinal already lost to Hawaii to open the season and is in the midst of a quarterback change. The chances BYU will truly learn more about itself then aren’t likely. That will need to wait until Big 12 play in a month.

For now, though, Bachmeier is at least feeling a little bit more settled. After the game, he was taking selfies with fans who made bear cutouts and signing autographs for a line that didn’t seem to end.

As he wound his way to the locker room, he finally found his family of about 15 people. He made plans to get dinner and exhaled.

Over food, he will take stock of his new normal as BYU’s starting quarterback. And for now, that’s all BYU needed on Saturday night.