![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/G24CREA7SZGNXBRUNKGTILJOOU.jpg\")
BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier looks to throw during spring camp on March 6, 2026, in Provo. | Jaren Wilkey\/BYU <\/p>\nIt was common to see quarterback Bear Bachmeier change Aaron Roderick\u2019s play call at the line of scrimmage during his debut season. The freedom given to such a young newcomer and the frequency of his audibles was uncommon for the veteran offensive coordinator. <\/p>\n
But it worked.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe audibled more last year than I think I ever have in my career with a freshman quarterback,\u201d said Roderick after Wednesday\u2019s practice. \u201cNow, just about every play out here, he has two or three options.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even as Bachmeier speeds up his development, the game itself is slowing down.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe already played like a veteran as a freshman,\u201d Roderick said. \u201cJust Year 2 in the offense, you can see he really has ownership of what we are doing. He understands what all 11 guys are doing on offense and defense on most plays.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a true freshman thrust into playing time and without the luxury of spring practices, the summer signee passed for 3,030 yards and 15 touchdowns while rushing for 527 yards and a program quarterback-record 11 touchdowns as BYU won 12 games for the first time in 24 years.<\/p>\n
BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier looks to throw during spring camp on March 6, 2026, in Provo. | Jaren Wilkey\/BYU <\/p>\n
Still 5\u00bd months away from kicking off his second season on Sept. 5 against Utah Tech, Bachmeier is making the most of his inaugural spring workouts. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s doing a really nice job taking the next step,\u201d Roderick said. \u201cHe\u2019s getting the ball out of his hands quickly, and he\u2019s doing a nice job bringing along the other guys like (tight ends) Walker Lyons and Roger (Saleapaga) \u2014 building chemistry with those guys and teaching them the offense.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roderick\u2019s approach with Bachmeier is less talk and more action, especially in the line of fire when the game is on.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s one of the reasons we went (back) to huddling. He can read the play on the wristband and really process it before going to the line of scrimmage,\u201d Roderick said. \u201cAfter the first couple of games, I wasn\u2019t talking to him all that much. I\u2019d just call the play, and he would read it off his wristband and go, and that\u2019s how we intend to play again this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bachmeier has 14 games under his belt, including the Big 12 championship tilt and the Pop-Tarts Bowl, and he earned the honor of being named the Big 12 Freshman Offensive Player of the Year. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s a tremendous start, but Roderick knows he can get better.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe still has lots of things we are working on to improve,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat is nice is just his command of what we are doing makes it so we can take it to the next level.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"BYU](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/TWE4C3QVKNAGTJN33CCKGZXRVQ.jpg\")
BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick talks to players during a practice at BYU’s outdoor practice facility in Provo. | BYU Photo <\/p>\n
Dave McCann is a sportswriter and columnist for the Deseret News and is a play-by-play announcer and show host for BYUtv\/ESPN+. He co-hosts \u201cY\u2019s Guys\u201d at ysguys.com and is the author of the children\u2019s book \u201cC is for Cougar,\u201d available at deseretbook.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was common to see quarterback Bear Bachmeier change Aaron Roderick\u2019s play call at the line of scrimmage…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":821785,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2026],"tags":[7,3309],"class_list":{"0":"post-821784","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-news-feed-local"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116257693645760918","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=821784"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821784\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/821785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=821784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=821784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=821784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}