Keeping your team in top 10 contention despite being a freshman is not everyone’s cup of tea. But for Bear Bachmeier, that has been the case so far until they face the Red Raiders. Their offensive struggles made things difficult for them. However, Bachmeier, being a fine leader, takes full responsibility. It’s not the loss that hurts; not making the playoffs could be a double whammy.

Texas Tech turned out to be one of the worst games of Bear Bachmeier’s rushing season. He gained only 12 rushing yards, passed for under 190 yards, and completed 23 out of 28 attempts with one touchdown. He turned the ball over twice in the 29-7 blowout loss. That inconsistency is taking a toll on him as OC.

“He’s really hard on himself, you know; he felt like it was his fault, and now it’s not surprised he’s a freshman, you know; he finally had a bad game. It is what it is,” Aaron Roderick said. “He’s played so well all year, and each week, he’s exceeded our expectations. And then this game, he had a tough game, just like all of us did.”

Bachmeier’s concern makes sense, and they might miss out on their chance to make the playoffs. Before Week 11, BYU was ranked at no. 7; after their loss, they dropped to No. 12 in the new rankings. This means that if the playoffs started today, they wouldn’t qualify because the last spot would go to South Florida, which is projected to be the Group of 5 champion. And that’s what makes this drop concerning.

Yet with the loss, Bachmeier remains the only true freshman to start his career with an 8-0 since Trevor Lawrence at Clemson back in 2018. But as Roderick mentioned, they all had a challenging game, especially the offense. Coming in, BYU just recorded 106 total yards against Texas Tech in the first half, and Bachmeier was just limited to 55 combined passing and rushing yards. With that, they were scoreless in the first half for the first time in more than two years. As it last happened in Week 10 of the 2023 season.

Even Roderick praised their defense, saying, “First of all, I want to give credit to Texas Tech. That’s a very good team, one of the best defensive lines I’ve ever coached against, if not the best. They put together a heck of a rock, whatever we made pre-snap. We had a lot of trouble with the crowd noise, trouble hearing the play call.”

But even BYU’s defense was top-notch, as they sacked QB Behren Morton four times, and he just completed 9 of 18 passes in the first half. Still, the playoff pressure is real, but Kalani Sitake is not losing hope.

Kalani Sitake lays a positive playoff path for BYU

Despite coming up short against Texas Tech, they still control their fate in the Big 12 race, as that win will land them automatically in the playoffs. And Sitake is right there to motivate his team. “We look forward to bouncing back from kind of this bad taste that we have from the last game,” Sitake said. “We’re looking forward to being better than we were last week against TCU.”

After this loss, they remain the team with one loss alongside Texas Tech and Cincinnati, which gives them a clear path to a conference win. However, there are areas where they need to improve. Like Parker Kingston muffing a punt, then a shanked punt from Sam Vander Haar, and critical drops by WRs. The problem was also sustaining the drives, and they couldn’t run the ball either.

They carried it 27 times for just 67 yards, averaging just 2.5 yards per carry. And converted just 3 of 14 third downs. “We’re very aware of what the deficiencies are,” Sitake said. “We just have to address them. I have to do a better job making sure we play sound at the beginning… We’ll circle the wagons, get back to work, and that’s the remedy.”

With that, injuries remain their primary concern on the defensive front, as players Anisi Purcell and Justin Kirkland missed the game against TCU. Now, let’s wait and see if they come up strong in the next two games.