Six months ago, Bear Bachmeier was playing spring ball at Stanford.
On Saturday night, he became a BYU legend.
In a rivalry game that had the whole country watching, Big 12 title implications and an undefeated season on the line, Bachmeier's fourth quarter heroics led BYU to a 24-21 victory over Utah.
BYU has now won three straight over its in-state foe.
The Utes started the fourth quarter hot. It only took them two plays before Daniel Bray found the end zone on a 49-yard jet sweep to put Utah up 14-10.
That's when Bachmeier had to step up for the second straight week to lead the Cougars to a fourth-quarter comeback victory.
On the second play of the drive, Bachmeier maneuvered out of the pocket perfectly, and threw an on-the-run dime to tight end Carsen Ryan who made a back shoulder catch with three Utes in the area. 26 yard grab. First down.
On the very following play, Bachmeier escaped what looked to be a for-sure sack, and managed to toss a ball out of bounds before getting a late hit to the helmet by Utah's captain linebacker Lander Barton. Barton was called for targeting and ejected from the game, ending his career at Utah without a victory over the Cougars.
Now with great field positioning, Bachmeier handed the ball off to Kingston for a 12-yard touchdown. BYU led 17-14.
After an interception from Utah's Devon Dampier gave the ball back to the Cougars, Bachmeier had the chance to cement his name in the history books.
That's when magic happened.
On 3rd-and-10 from the Utah 22-yard line, BYU called a quarterback draw for Bachmeier, who proceeded to make half of Utah's defense miss, and then carried three defenders into the end zone.
And his name is…
— Unnecessary Roughness (@UnnecRoughness) October 19, 2025
BEAR. BACHMEIER. pic.twitter.com/BINwCK9dQH
The image of Bachmeier dragging three red uniforms could be permanently hung in BYU's Museum of Art.
That run is now up there with the best moments in Holy War history.
"I was just trying to get the first down," Bachmeier said. "I was standing for some reason after some guys tried to tackle me."
"That run at the end was phenomenal," Roberts said.
That possibly wasn't even Bachmeier's most impressive run, as his did his best Taysom Hill impression when he hurdled Utah's Jackson Benee earlier in the game.
BEAR JORDAN 🐻 ✈️
— Whistle (@WhistleSports) October 19, 2025
A QB hurdle. That’s something you don’t see everyday 🤯 Bear Bachmeier is special pic.twitter.com/r9xk3aayLo
All night, Bachmeier produced jaw-dropping highlights.
This was Bachmeier's third comeback victory in only his seventh career game.
When asked about how the offense is able to perform at such a high level in these clutch moments, Roberts praised his true freshman quarterback.
"[Bachmeier] is just the same. It doesn't matter," Roberts said. "We could be down 30 and its pretty awesome how he just brings in the huddle ... and goes and makes plays."
Bachmeier is the first true freshman quarterback in BYU history to beat Utah. Something that he is still wrapping his head around.
"Its a crazy roller coaster," said Bachmeier, who was not even named the starting quarterback until August.
"We were 7-0 last year, so a lot of the guys are calm, but in my head I'm like, 'Holy cow! We're 7-0,'" said Bachmeier.
Bachmeier and the Cougars face a difficult task over the next four games. At Iowa State, at Texas Tech, home against TCU and then at Cincinnati.
But regardless of how the season plays out, Bachmeier is already a legend in the eyes of BYU fans.
It's not every day — there's never been a day — that a true freshman comes out victorious against the Utes.