On Saturday night, BYU sophomore quarterback Bear Bachmeier led the Cougars to a historic upset over Notre Dame. For Bachmeier, the Notre Dame game was personal. Bachmeier told the media that Notre Dame disrespected him and his family "pretty badly" coming out of high school and that he kept the receipts.
"Out of high school, Notre Dame disrespected me and my family pretty badly and I wasn't going to lose to those guys. There was no way I was going to lose to those guys tonight." Bachmeier's comments begin around the 36:40 mark of this video.
When asked a follow-up question about what happened, Bachmeier said, "I shouldn't have said that, but there were some receipts kept and I'm glad we won."
Bachmeier, who is a member of the Catholic faith, held an offer from Notre Dame coming out of high school. Leading up to the game, Bachmeier explained that his grandpa was a Notre Dame fan. Bachmeier said the disrespect he felt in high school added a chip on his shoulder going into this game.
"I definitely had an extra chip on the shoulder... I hate talking about myself, man, what a great team win."
Bachmeier delivered an outstanding performance against the Fighting Irish. When BYU's offense couldn't get much going on the ground in the first half, he carried the offense with his arm. When BYU needed to punch it into the end zone, he did the job with his legs. He even had his first receiving touchdown on a trick play.
Bachmeier finished with 224 passing yards on 23/36 against the nation's top defense. He also had 45 yards and 2 touchdowns on 13 carries. Bachmeier was magnificent on the final drive, leading the offense down the field for the go-ahead score.
With the win, Bachmeier improved to 18-2 as BYU's starting quarterback. Perhaps more impressively, Bachmeier is now 9-0 in games that were one-score games in the fourth quarter. Bachmeier has the ability to diagnose what his teams needs from him to win in key moments, then he delivers. He has done it countless times. Saturday was just the latest example.
Bachmeier's numbers aren't always eye-popping, but you can't deny the impact he has on winning. Bachmeier's go-ahead drive, combined with his performance throughout the night, could catapult him into the Heisman conversation.
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