Three Takeaways from the Second Week of BYU Football Fall Camp

On Tuesday, BYU wrapped up the second week of Fall Camp. The Cougars will take one day off for a team bonding activity on Wednesday. They will return to the practice field on Thursday. While BYU heads into the final week of Fall Camp, let’s look back at our top three takeaways from week two.

The battle for the starting quarterback position is down to Bear Bachmeier and McCae Hillstead. Aaron Roderick told the media that Bear Bachmeier and McCae Hillstead are getting the first-team and second-team reps, and true freshman Bear Bachmeier is getting the “majority” of the first-team reps.

There has been a sentiment among some fans, and even some members of the media, that if Bachmeier wins the starting job, it’s because BYU is betting on the future over the present. We don’t believe that to be true. It is our belief that if Bachmeier wins the job, it’s because Aaron Roderick believes he will give BYU the to best chance to win in 2025. BYU wants to win and they want to win right away.

The media only sees a small portion of practice. So while we haven’t seen Bachmeier’s full body of work in practice, we feel comfortable saying that Bachmeier is only getting the majority of the first-team reps because he has earned them. At this point in camp, first-team reps are in short supply and they can’t be waisted on an experiment.

If Tuesday’s practice was any indication, Bachmeier might be pulling away as we head into the final week of Fall Camp. Bachmeier was impressive in his only drive seen by the media. Bachmeier had a pair of impressive throws on back-to-back plays.

Bachmeier didn’t look like a true freshman that is getting reps because of his poential. He looked like the best quarterback on the roster.

That doesn’t mean McCae Hillstead can’t close the gap and win the job. Just last year, Jake Retzlaff surged in the final week of Fall Camp and won the starting spot over Gerry Bohanon. However, Hillstead will have to do more than he is currently doing to surpass Bachmeier. Hillstead hasn’t produced the big plays that he consistently produced back in Spring Camp and Fall Camp 2024.

The BYU defense is coming off its best season in years. The 2025 defense could be even better. BYU has depth and talent at every position on defense. They also have more talent along the defensive line than they’ve ever had under Kalani Sitake.

After the scrimmage on Saturday, BYU defensive coordinator Jay Hill said the pass rush “looks different right now than it did last year.”

“One of the places I’m most happy with is our pass rush looks different right now than it did last year,” Hill said. “We got some dynamic guys off the edge. Some of those young bucks that we recruited the first year I was here are starting to show up, and I can’t wait to watch them in the game because the pass rush looks good right now.”

The BYU defense was really good in 2024. The Cougars led the Big 12 in most major stat categories. The only major deficiency? The pass rush. The Cougars ranked 108th nationally in team sacks. If BYU’s pass rush can take a big step forward in 2025, the BYU defense has a chance to be even better than they were a season ago and one of the best nationally. A disruptive defense with a dominant pass rush was the goal when Jay Hill was hired.

No player on the roster needs to stay healthy more than LJ Martin. Until BYU gets Hinckley Ropati back for the 2025 season – and that is not a guarantee by any stretch – the running back position is the thinnest position on the roster.

BYU’s run game will be good as long as LJ Martin and Sione Moa are healthy. If Martin and/or Moa goes down, things could change quickly. BYU needs some favorable injury luck at the running back spot in 2025.