The Lead: Bachmeier’s first start comes up end zones as BYU routs Portland State
Courtesy BYU Photo
BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier throws a pass against Portland State in a college football game at LaVell Edwards Stadium on Saturday, August 30, 2025.BYU freshman quarterback Bear Bachmeier couldn’t possibly live up to the hype in his first start.
But he did a pretty good job of getting the Cougars into the end zone.
Bachmeier — the first freshman to ever start an opener at quarterback for BYU — accounted for five first-half touchdowns as the Cougars destroyed FCS Portland State 69-0 on Saturday.
It was BYU’s largest margin of victory since an 83-7 win against UTEP in 1980.
Bachmeier passed for three touchdowns and ran for two more against the Vikings as the Cougars rolled to a 49-0 halftime lead. He finished 7 of 11 for 97 yards passing and ran five times for 32 yards.
Backups McCae Hillstead, Treyson Bourget and Cole Hagen led BYU to 20 second-half points, including a school record-tying 56-yard field goal from Will Ferrin.
The Cougars totaled 606 yards, including 468 on the ground, while holding Portland State to just 53 total yards.
BYU (1-0) will host Stanford next Saturday.
Come back to heraldextra.com for more on BYU’s first win of 2025, including the game story and grades from Brandon C. Gurney, “Inside Darnell’s Head” and more.
