“He looks like a ___-____ centaur.” Portland State football coach Bruce Barnham

“Attack life. Life isn’t going to wave at you, so you gotta attack it.” Bear Bachmeier

As the legend of BYU’s freshman quarterback grows, fans are wondering if there’s anything he can’t do.

Bachmeier has led the Cougars to a 7-0 start (4-0 in the Big 12) heading into a huge road game at Iowa State on Saturday. Bachmeier is completing 63% of his passes (104 of 166) for 1,386 yards, nine touchdowns and three interceptions while adding 359 rushing yards and eight more scores.

Marcia Harris, Special to the Herald

Even more impressive, he consistently makes big plays when the game is on the line.

When he ran through most of the Utah defense on a 22-yard quarterback draw that pretty much iced BYU’s 24-21 win, the LaVell Edwards Stadium crowd surged every time he made a cut, avoided tacklers and eventually pulled defenders into the end zone.

The noise inside the stadium was deafening.

Watching the game in person was former BYU/NFL quarterback and one of Bachmeier’s mentors, John Beck, who flew into Provo with his young sons to enjoy the game.

“I was standing with Bear’s dad (Michael) throughout all the fourth quarter, trying to calm him down,” Beck said in an interview on ESPN The Fan this week. “It was cool for my kids to see an awesome BYU moment like that.”

Harold Mitchell, Special to the Herald

After the game, Beck was able to talk to the young Bear for a moment.

“As we were making our way out of the stadium, Bear hopped a fence to say hi to his family,” Beck said. “He was trying to make his way off the field so I got to talk to him for a little bit and help him to through the crowd to the locker room.”

Beck has had the opportunity to work with Bear Bachmeier  with his training company, QB3D, and actually coached against him for several years in southern California.

“I’m super happy for that kid,” Beck said. “He’s playing so well, helping his team reach their goals. I think this team has its sights set on a special season and Bear has been brought into the mix. He’s done what has been needed on critical plays in critical moments.

“Bear has always been good with his feet. So many time in his high school career it was his feet that helped extend drives and extend plays. It doesn’t surprise me to see Bear playing the way he is.

Courtesy BYU Photo

This is his style of play, it’s always been his style of play.”

Beck was complimentary of the work the BYU offensive coaches have put into developing Bachmeier in such a short time.

“The thing that I think is really cool is that you have someone (Bachmeier) who just got to the program pretty much in June and started working on playbook with Coach (Matt) Mitchell,” Beck said. “When everything went down (with Bachmeier’s transfer from Stanford) he had some things to get done. The remarkable thing is is how good he’s doing leading an offense in terms of getting in and out of plays without having freshman turnovers happening over and over. He’s just played sound football.”

Beck broke down key points of Bachmeier’s performance against Utah.

“I thought he did really good job with those sacks (two of them) because they were smart sacks,” Beck said. “He knew nothing was there and he didn’t try to force anything. He didn’t try to do too much. In a big game you want to make a play and sometimes that can get away from you. You’re throwing while you’re getting pulled down and now your accuracy is hindered or the ball flutters in the air and it’s intercepted.

“I really like Bear’s decision making. BYU has done a great job of utilizing and emulating the style of play that Bear has so many reps in. Some of the zone-read options, it’s a staple part of the offense along with the quarterback draw and quarterback power. He’s getting into the right play against man coverage, knowing when to take shots or not and having a great feel for the offense. I think there’s just an innate feel for space that he has.”

Beck also complimented Bachmeier’s footwork.

“That guy is so nimble with his feet,” Beck said. “Bears aren’t known for being nimble but this Bear is. What how he picks up his feet and avoids tacklers or jumps over their hands. On the touchdown run (in the fourth quarter), for a 230-pound guy to be running upfield, then to slow down in a small enough space to then pick his feet up and make a little jump, that’s pretty incredible.

“You have to really tip your hat to ARod (offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick) because he’s utilizing the kid in the right way, That’s why it’s working. People say it’s amazing to see a freshman step in and do what he’s doing and it’s all because of the fit. BYU has really good pieces around him. They have a run game and Bear adds an element of taking guys on and running through tacklers. His ability to take off with his legs late in games is such a benefit for BYU.”

Earlier this week, Bachmeier was on ESPN’s SportsCenter for an interview and talked about how his older brothers (Hank and Tiger) made him tough enough to take on any challenge.

“I still remember playing front yard basketball and someone always had a bloody noise or a chipped tooth and my mom would always be screaming,” he said. “Great times in the Bachmeier house.”

He also spoke about how wearing No. 47 embodies how he plays the game.

“It’s a unique number,” Bachmeier said. “My dad picked it for me when I first started playing football. The coaches love it. It brings me back to that primitive nature. If we need a yard or two or it’s third and long to get a first down, they can count on me.”