The Bear who ‘saved the season’ is looking for one more win

“The Bears Who Saved Christmas” is a holiday cartoon where a couple of young cubs rescue the season.

The Bear who saved the Cougars is the story of another young cub who did the same thing — only Bear Bachmeier, while animated at times, is very real.

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As a result, No. 12 BYU is playing holiday football on Saturday in the Pop Tarts Bowl against No. 22 Georgia Tech (1:30 p.m., ABC).

A sudden coaching change at Stanford last spring spurred Bachmeier to give BYU a second look. Just months removed from high school, he showed up in Provo determined to back up senior quarterback Jake Retzlaff and compete for the starting job in 2026.

Retzlaff’s unexpected transfer to Tulane in July stunted BYU’s preseason expectations and sped up Bachmeier’s opportunity. Determined to win the job, the new kid in town outperformed his predecessors in fall camp and the rest was a pleasant surprise — both in the Big 12 and in the national polls.

Playing with an experienced supporting cast, Bachmeier’s 2,708 passing yards, 527 rushing yards and 25 total touchdowns helped to engineer an 11-2 season and earn BYU’s first appearance in the Big 12 Championship game.

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At 6-foot-2 and 230-plus pounds, Bachmeier plays with the frame of a grown man and a boyish face that lights up at any mention of Santa Claus. He’s as comfortable in his own skin as he is singing and playing the guitar at a senior center.

The teen has exceeded all of BYU’s expectations, and with a win on Saturday, Bachmeier can deliver the program’s first 12-win season since 2001 — five years before his birth.

“I don’t know what to say about (Bachmeier). I’m just amazed at his natural, genetic, heavenly blessed presence, talent for the quarterback position,” said BYU legend and Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young on BYUtv Sports Nation.

“It doesn’t mean that he can do everything at all times and he’s the best at anything right now, but just as a natural guy to get in the huddle and understand 22 people and spatial relationships and (not) get overwhelmed by it.”

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Much like Young had, Bachmeier’s ability to run and throw gives him a set of tools to shape his game and be different from the others.

“We all saw what he’s really good at — the (run-pass-options). Running the football, he’s just unique. I love what he does,” Young said. “I love so much about him, but to become a real sophisticated passer where you say to yourself, ‘We’re down by 20, let me unleash now.’ He has the arm to do it, but he’s got to develop sophistication in the pocket. He’s always going to move around. I always moved around, but I also had to develop that sophistication in the pocket.”

During his three seasons as BYU’s starting quarterback, Young threw for 7,733 yards and 56 touchdowns while rushing for 1,084 yards and 18 touchdowns. Young sees Bachmeier with the potential to do more.

“Every year he’s got to get significantly better at carrying the team with his arm and forcing defenses to capitulate to that because then, LJ (Martin) looks better, his own running is better, the play-action is better — the threat against the best teams that Bear is going to come out and throw it all over you – it needs to develop,” Young said. “I think that would be the next thing I’d say for him. That’s nothing small. That’s a big, huge thing.”

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Bachmeier will put his youth up against Georgia Tech’s Haynes King. The ACC Player of the Year is one of the nation’s oldest quarterbacks and turns 25 in two weeks. During his time at Texas A&M and Georgia Tech, King has also fine-tuned his dual-threat ability.

“Haynes is grizzled. He’s been around,” said Young. “I can’t wait to see Bear play and see what he can do, because it’s fun to (watch). But I think you have a great match up because you have a quarterback on the other side that’s pretty good.”

In the cartoon, the “Bears Who Saved Christmas” were sketched to overcome significant odds and lowly expectations to save the season. In his own reality-TV show, BYU’s Bear is still writing the script for Saturday, but as for the football season as a whole, he saved that the day he showed up.

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 “Y’s Guys” at ysguys.com and is the author of the children’s book “C is for Cougar,” available at deseretbook.com.