College football is back, and BYU Football is hard at work this summer to make a statement this coming year that they are a force to be reckoned with in the Big 12 Conference.
After an impressive 11-2 finish on the season, the Cougars are looking for a shot at another fantastic season. It seemed like the road to success was already paved for the young squad until starting quarterback Jake Retzlaff announced his withdrawal from the school.
Now, the team is challenged with finding a new starting quarterback for the upcoming season. BYU Head Coach Kilani Sitake says he and the coaching staff are ready to push their top three prospects during the summer football training camp, which started on Wednesday.
“The goal is to try to get these guys in situations where they can play football and see how they function, and I thought they did a great job today,” Sitake said. “We’ll watch the film and look at everything and obviously that’s going to get the eyeballs on the quarterback position first.”
The three prospects include true freshman Bear Bachmeier, sophomore McCae Hillstead and sophomore Treyson Bourguet.
Bachmeier, while young, says he is taking advantage of every rep he gets to fight for that starting spot.
“Anytime you go to a school, or any environment you want to play, you compete,” Bachmeier said. "Obviously circumstances arose, and it opened up an opportunity. So, you kind of got to take it and you do your best with that.”
Hillstead says he’s just trying to be his best self on the field.
“I’m just playing my game, and I think that’s the same for all the other guys,” Hillstead said. “You can’t try to be anybody else other than yourself, so just put it all on tape, be your best self and try to go get it.”
Bourguet says he wants to show the coaching staff his versatility on the field.
“I just want to show that I am more than capable of doing everything on the field, whether that’s running for 10 yards, throwing for 15 yards on a play or even taking the easy completion for 5 yards,” Bourguet said. "Whatever it is, I’m going to get the job done.”
The three prospects will have plenty of time to showcase their talent on the field leading up to BYU’s season opener on Aug. 30 at LaVell Edwards Stadium against Portland State.