Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM OCT. 10, 2026 35 GAME PREVIEW: BYU However, Bachmeier's relationship with Notre Dame is much more com- plicated than that. The Irish pursued Bachmeier as a quarterback prospect out of Murrieta (Calif.) Valley in the 2025 class, but they took a private com- mitment from priority target Deuce Knight the same weekend Bachmeier visited Notre Dame to attend a 41-17 victory over Central Michigan in Sep- tember 2023. Knight, who eventually signed with Auburn at the end of the 2025 recruiting cycle and has since transferred to Ole Miss, seemingly only came to the deci- sion to pull the trigger on a Notre Dame commitment once it appeared the Irish were serious about taking Bachmeier instead. That put Bachmeier in a some- what awkward position, but he eventu- ally committed to Stanford, which also meant he would have the opportunity to play against Notre Dame during his career. The start of Bachmeier's college ten- ure still had one more reroute. Bach- meier, who enrolled at Stanford for its winter quarter and went through spring practices with the program in 2025, opted to enter the transfer portal after Stanford fired head coach Troy Tay- lor that spring. Bachmeier eventually landed at BYU ahead of his freshman season. A BYU BLESSING Despite the bumpy road to BYU, Bachmeier might have ended up in the best place for him. He probably wouldn't have won the starting quarter- back competition over CJ Carr heading into the 2025 season at Notre Dame, but he was able to win BYU's starting role from the outset of his freshman year. Bachmeier started all 14 games for a BYU team that finished 12-2, with both losses coming against Texas Tech. The Red Raiders bested BYU in the regu- lar season, 29-7, and again in the Big 12 Championship, 34-7. That secured a spot in the College Football Playoff for Texas Tech and left BYU ranked No. 12 by the CFP committee, one spot behind Notre Dame and two spots away from an at-large bid to the 12-team tournament. Bachmeier impressed in his first sea- son of college football. He earned Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year honors and became just the second true fresh- man to throw for at least 3,000 yards at BYU. Bachmeier completed 64.9 per- cent of his passes (251 of 387) for 3,033 yards with 15 touchdowns and 7 inter- ceptions. He also rushed 147 times for 527 yards and 11 touchdowns. Bachmeier's competence and poten- tial for growth played a big part in BYU being viewed as a CFP contender head- ing into the 2026 season. Head coach Kalani Sitake worked to surround Bach- meier with more talent to accentuate his evolution. BUILDING A DYNAMIC OFFENSE Running back LJ Martin made Bach- meier's job quite a bit easier as a fresh- man last year. Martin, who rushed for 1,305 yards and scored 12 touchdowns last season, returned to BYU for his se- nior campaign in 2026 to make another run at the College Football Playoff. But Bachmeier and Martin needed some teammates to step up at other skill po- sitions on offense. Before the season began, Bachmeier expressed confidence in his wide re- ceivers. "They're going to be dangerous," Bachmeier said. Freshman wide receiver Legend Glasker proved to be the most danger- ous in the first three games of the sea- son, with 11 catches for 270 yards and 2 touchdowns. Fifth-year wide receiver Kyler Kasper, a transfer from Oregon, made his presence felt to start the sea- Freshman wide receiver Legend Glasker has provided the Cougars with a dangerous deep threat this sea- son, hauling in 11 receptions for 270 yards (24.5 yards per catch) and 2 touchdowns through three games. PHOTO COURTESY BYU ATHLETICS Facts & Figures NOTRE DAME AT BYU Date: Oct. 17, 2026 Site: LaVell Edwards Stadium (62,073) Kickoff: TBA Television: TBA Radio: This game can be heard on SoFi Notre Dame Radio Network affiliates. Series Facts: Notre Dame leads 7-2 Head coaches: BYU — Kalani Sitake (88-45, 11th season); Notre Dame — Marcus Freeman (48-12, 5th season). Noting BYU: The Cougars have been one of the top teams in the country in intercepting passes for a third consecutive season. After intercepting 22 passes in 2024 and 17 passes in 2025, BYU logged 5 interceptions in its first three games this season … BYU is 51-8 when it wins the turnover margin battle under head coach Kalani Sitake … BYU converted 19 of its first 31 third-down attempts for a 61.3 percent conversion rate … Quarterback Bear Bach- meier logged both a rushing touchdown and passing touchdown in nine of his first 17 starts.