Boise State’s Bachmeier vs. BYU’s Wilson: The matchup that may never happen
Every game in the Boise State football team’s series with BYU carries significant weight, and Friday’s game at Albertsons Stadium (7:55 p.m., FS1) is no exception.
This season marks the first time No. 21 Boise State (2-0) and No. 9 BYU (7-0) will play when both teams are ranked, and the Broncos have a shot at retribution after a 28-25 loss in Provo, Utah, last season.
But an aspect of the rivalry that is of particular importance to both coaching staffs may be missing from the game for the second year in a row.
After injuries kept them both out of last season’s game, this year was supposed to be a showdown between the quarterback who many see as Boise State’s next star, sophomore Hank Bachmeier, and the recruit that got away — BYU junior quarterback Zach Wilson.
Wilson verbally committed to Boise State in June 2017, but he backed out a week before early signing day in December of that year, opting instead to sign with BYU.
BYU coach Kalani Sitake called landing the three-star recruit out of Corner Canyon High in Draper, Utah, a huge win for his program.
“There’s just something you can see in a kid in high school and you know they just have it,” Sitake told reporters Monday. “Sometimes you just have this feeling in recruiting and coaching that you just have to go with the guy who you think is going to have a presence on the field, and it’s not just seen on the highlights.”
Bachmeier didn’t make the trip to Air Force on Saturday, and Boise State coach Bryan Harsin wouldn’t say Tuesday if Bachmeier or graduate transfer Jack Sears will start against the Cougars.
The Broncos have not said why Bachmeier missed the game, but they did say Saturday that one player was out because he tested positive for COVID-19. Starting safety JL Skinner also missed the game for an undisclosed reason.
“This is a crazy year,” Harsin told reporters Tuesday morning. “The best way for us to stay consistent is to make sure those (injuries) that are season ending are going to be mentioned and the guys that aren’t, we’ll see where we’re at, at the end of the week.”
Sears started against Air Force and completed 17-of-20 passes for 280 yards and totaled four touchdowns (three passing, one rushing) in a 49-30 win.
Whether it’s Sears or Bachmeier taking snaps Friday, he’ll face a quarterback who has accomplished a lot in a relatively small number of starts.
In 2018, Wilson became the youngest quarterback to start a game for BYU, and in three seasons as the starter, he has racked up 6,112 passing yards, 42 passing touchdowns and 12 rushing touchdowns with just 14 interceptions.
That’s despite never having appeared in more than nine games in a season and only starting seven last fall because of injuries.
“I think he always viewed himself as a great quarterback, and he just needed everyone to see it,” Sitake said. “He’s a hard worker and he’s never satisfied, and when you have that under center, or in the shotgun nowadays, good things can happen for you.”
In seven games this season, Wilson has set career highs in touchdown passes (19) and rushing touchdowns (seven). He’s racked up 2,152 passing yards, thrown just two interceptions and completed 74.6% of his passes, which ranks No. 6 in the nation. His 19 touchdown passes rank No. 3 in the country.
“I think he’s really elevated his game,” Harsin told reporters Tuesday. “Naturally, some guys can just spin it. … They’ve always been able to throw. He’s obviously got the athletic ability to escape, evade rushers, move the pocket and hurt you with his legs, and he’s shown a lot of accuracy this season.”
Harsin personally worked with Wilson when he attended a Boise State camp early in his high school career, but there was nothing the Broncos’ coaches could do to budge Wilson from staying in his home state and signing with the Cougars.
Sitake, who said he’s known Wilson “since he was a kid,” isn’t surprised he has been such a great fit at BYU.
Wilson’s upbringing has a lot do with that, Sitake said. So much so that the Cougars also signed his younger brother, Josh, as part of their 2020 recruiting class. Josh Wilson is a three-star outside linebacker, according to 247Sports.
“In recruiting, the worst thing that can ever happen is someone goes to a school and they wish they were someplace else,” Sitake said. “I get to know these kids and see them grow up and see them run their high school programs. I know what families they come from.”
After losing Wilson late in the recruiting process, Boise State’s coaches made ill-fated attempts to land two other highly touted quarterbacks in the 2018 class: Brock Purdy, who ended up at Iowa State, and Trey Lance, who signed with North Dakota State.
Boise State did add a quarterback from Florida to their 2018 class: Riley Smith, who is currently No. 2 at tight end on the Broncos’ depth chart.
Bachmeier joined Boise State’s 2019 class as a four-star recruit out of Murrieta Valley High in California. He’s 8-1 as the Broncos’ starter, and he has a promising future. And there are coaches on both sides who want to see how he and Wilson compare head to head.
Wilson’s and Bachmeier’s success will always be intertwined because had the Broncos landed the former, they probably wouldn’t have signed the latter. That’s especially true in an era when the transfer portal is such a prevalent option for recruits who don’t play right away.
Wilson is only a junior and could come back for two more years after the NCAA extended an extra year of eligibility to fall athletes, so there is a chance for a Bachmeier-Wilson matchup in the future.
But like Purdy and Lance, Wilson may hear his named called in the 2021 NFL Draft.
The Athletic’s Dane Brugler sees him as a potential first-round pick, which could make it tough to come back to school for another year and means Friday may be the last chance he has to match wits with Bachmeier as a college quarterback.
NO. 9 BYU AT NO. 21 BOISE STATE
When: 7:55 p.m. Friday
Where: Albertsons Stadium
TV: Fox Sports 1 (Aaron Goldsmith, Petros Papadakis). That’s channel 146 on Sparklight, 219 on DirecTV and 150 on Dish Network.
Radio: KBOI 670 AM/KTIK 93.1 FM (Bob Behler, Pete Cavender)
Records: Boise State 2-0; BYU 7-0
Series: Boise State leads 7-3 (last meeting: Boise State lost 28-25 last season in Provo, Utah)
Vegas line: BYU by 2.5
Weather: Low of 28 degrees, 40% chance of rain and snow, 5-10 mph winds
This story was originally published November 4, 2020 at 4:00 AM.
