Not long after BYU knocked off Notre Dame on Saturday night, Cougars quarterback Bear Bachmeier gave a glimpse into what drove him to a Heisman-worthy performance.
Bachmeier took the podium and said he felt disrespected by the Fighting Irish during his recruitment process.
“Kalani won’t like this because I’m talking about myself,” Bachmeier told reporters after Saturday’s game against Notre Dame, acknowledging that head coach Kalani Sitake would take issue with the peek behind the curtain his star signal-caller was about to reveal.
“But out of high school, Notre Dame disrespected me and my family pretty badly,” Bachmeier continued, “and I wasn’t going to lose to those guys. There is no way I was going to lose to those guys tonight. … I shouldn’t have said that, but there were some receipts kept, and I’m glad we won.”
Bear Bachmeier says Notre Dame disrespected him and his family coming out of high school, so he was extra motivated to beat the Fighting Irish tonight. pic.twitter.com/PmzGt2eSiq
— Dana Greene (@dana_greene) October 18, 2026
Bear Bachmeier walks back emotional post-game comments about Notre Dame football
Bachmeier isn’t the first player to talk about how they were recruited by a school they didn’t end up going to. Jeremiyah Love has even said a school screwed up his recruiting when he might have gone elsewhere.
Notre Dame’s pursuit of Deuce Knight led them to decide they were out on Bachmeier. And so, he went to the Cougars and is now leading the No. 2 team in the country.
Given how everything worked out, some Fighting Irish fans might be surprised Bachmeier holds such a grudge. The reality is that while he used his recruitment by Marcus Freeman to drive himself against the Irish, he still has a ton of respect for the program in South Bend.
Later in his press conference, he expressed humility and regret for his initial remarks before the session concluded.
“I’ve got to say one more thing,” Bachmeier said. “I love Notre Dame. I was obviously getting emotional in that. I love CJ Carr. That’s a good team.”
Unsurprisingly, the quarterback’s later comments got far less attention than his initial quote. Of course, it’s not as though he wasn’t driven to beat Notre Dame, but the hatred and heat in his initial comments were clearly not the real Bear Bachmeier.
For his part, Sitake was also extremely complimentary of the Fighting Irish.
“First of all, I just want to thank Notre Dame and the university and the fans,” Sitake said in response to a question about the meaning of playing the Irish. “I mean, I mentioned in ’94 when I played there, I was impressed with the way Notre Dame, the fans, treated us. They were very Christ-like, and they set this great example. I felt like that’s who we should try to be. The way they handled themselves with class. And I’ve never seen it before until my freshman year at Notre Dame. I was really impressed with it.”
Notre Dame is, of course, not happy that they’re coming home after a big loss in a big game. However, the talk that BYU could become a yearly showdown should be louder, given how big this game could become a rivalry ensconced in respect.
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