Rich Rodriguez’s West Virginia Mountaineers and Kalani Sitake’s BYU Cougars will face off Saturday in a battle of two teams going in different directions, especially at the quarterback position.
Not only are the Cougars 4-0 and ranked 23rd in the nation, but they have found stability at quarterback behind true freshman Bear Bachmeier, who has already won over many fans after losing veteran Jake Retzlaff to Tulane in the transfer portal.
Meanwhile, it does not look so bright on the other side of the field.
West Virginia Battling Quarterback Injuries
The Mountaineers earned a rivalry win over the Pittsburgh Panthers, but they are just 2-3 and have likely lost starting quarterback Nicco Marchiol to a foot injury for the remainder of the season. It has been reported that he plans to redshirt and enter the transfer portal medically.
ESPN’s Anish Shroff, who joined BYUtv’s Sports Nation to discuss the quarterback situation at each school, considers it very troubling. “Yeah, I’ll be honest with you, I have no idea what to expect from West Virginia,” Shroff admitted.
“Rich Rod is back. It’s his first year there as head coach, first year back as head coach. Nicco Marchiol, who was their starting quarterback,he is now applying for a medical redshirt,” he added. That leaves a lot of questions about the future of the position.
“His future with the program is very much in doubt,” Shroff explained. So that was QB1. QB2, there are reports out there that he’s not going to play, so you’re probably down to QB3, QB4. They’ve been playing multiple guys.”
West Virginia turned to Jaylen Henderson, who has spent time at Fresno State and Texas A&M, but he was removed from his start against Utah in favor of redshirt freshman Khalil Watkins.
“We’re looking and searching for everything we can to help us,” Rodriguez said. “Khalil has got some big, explosive type of ability. I think his upside and his future looks really good.”
BYU Looks Solid at Quarterback with Bear Bachmeier Leading the Way
On the other side of the field, transfer Bachmeier has led BYU. Bachmeier started his career at Stanford in 2025 but transferred to BYU along with his brother, Tiger, a junior wide receiver.
Their older brother, Hank, played quarterback for Boise State, Louisiana Tech, and Wake Forest.
According to Shroff, the freshman has been better than anyone could have expected in replacing Retzlaff.
“I think just one intelligence, right,” Shroff answered when asked what’s been impressive about Bachmeier. “It comes across. We talked to him the other night and really smart kid. You hear what the coaches say about him? He picks up things so easily. I don’t know if he’s got a photographic memory, but he might have something close to that.”
Bachmeier is not only 4-0 as a starter but has put up impressive numbers. He’s 61-of-90 for 697 yards with six touchdowns and no interceptions while adding another 163 yards and four touchdowns on the ground.
“10 touchdowns, no turnovers,” Shroff said. “He doesn’t play like a true freshman. He shows leadership ability and every week you’re starting to see it. They’re increasing his menu.”
We’ll see if that menu continues to increase when BYU and West Virginia kick off from LaVell Edwards Stadium at 10:30 ET on Friday night. The game will air on ESPN.