Photo via Toronto Star

Bear Bachmeier throws for 236 yards and a touchdown as No. 8 BYU holds off Arizona State 27-20

Read the original at Toronto Star ↗
Cite

Coon, J. (2026, October 31). Bear Bachmeier throws for 236 yards and a touchdown as No. 8 BYU holds off Arizona State 27-20. Toronto Star. https://www.thestar.com/sports/football/bear-bachmeier-throws-for-236-yards-and-a-touchdown-as-no-8-byu-holds-off-arizona-state-27-20/article_9d44c214-89ac-506a-9d04-2c5ad571fe67.html

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

Toronto Star · collected 2026-11-01 · by John Coon

Quick Summary

Bear Bachmeier led No. 8 BYU to a 27-20 win over Arizona State, throwing for 236 yards and a touchdown. The Cougars shut out the Sun Devils in the fourth quarter after Arizona State had rallied with two third-quarter touchdowns. Key plays included Sione Moa’s game-sealing one-yard run and Matthias Dunn’s 45-yard field goal that gave BYU the lead for good. Bachmeier also converted crucial fourth-down passes to keep drives alive, helping secure the victory despite a turbulent first half where both teams had turnovers.
Written by AI on 2026-11-01, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

On October 31, BYU (ranked No. 8) defeated Arizona State in a closely contested game with a final score of 27-20. Quarterback Bear Bachmeier led BYU with 236 yards and one touchdown pass, while Sione Moa scored the decisive points in the fourth quarter on a 1-yard run. Despite Arizona State’s strong third-quarter performance where they erased a 14-point deficit, BYU managed to maintain their lead by shutting out the Sun Devils in the final period.

Arizona State quarterback Jake Fette threw for 166 yards and two touchdowns but ultimately couldn’t secure the win as his team suffered its third road loss against a top-10 opponent this season. The Big 12 later acknowledged that BYU was incorrectly awarded a touchdown earlier in the game, which could have affected the outcome due to the narrow seven-point margin of victory.

Written for “BYU Survives Arizona State” on 2026-11-03, grounded in this article and the 2 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 BYU Survives Arizona State
Sports · 3 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Fox News
Hedges 0 of 16 claims Outlet record 69/100
New York Post
Hedges 0 of 14 claims Outlet record 66/100
“While both articles discuss the same game between BYU and Arizona State, Article B focuses on a replay controversy after the fact rather than reporting on the actual match details.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
41
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 41 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
64/100
Toronto Star's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
3
Sports
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-11-01 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Toronto Star · 11229 article(s) · 28 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 28 correction(s)
2026-10-26
Correction
2026-10-24
Correction
2026-10-07
Correction
2026-09-24
Correction

Who wrote this

John Coon
13 article(s) here · 0 carrying a prediction
🔮 It’s a big deal,’” Houston coach Willie Fritz said.
🔮 “We had them on the ropes, and we couldn’t find a way to finish,” Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said.
🔮 Obviously, maybe it just happened at other places but we can’t allow that to happen.
🔮 This is the first time in series history where both teams are ranked and it will be the first top-10 matchup ever played at LaVell Edwards Stadium.
🔮 “I think if she had stepped on the gas a little earlier, it would have been a completely different fight,” UFC President Dana White said.
🔮 There’s also a question if the defense will take a step back under first-year coordinator Kelly Poppinga after Jay Hill left for Michigan.
🔮 Their playmaking abilities will be tested while operating behind an untested offensive line that lost two starters to the NFL.
Also by John Coon
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 13 articles by John Coon →

Topics

Arizona State Arizona State’s BYU Cougars the Sun Devils

Subjects

BYU ORG · 9× Bachmeier PERSON · 8× Cougars ORG · 6× the Sun Devils ORG · 6× Arizona State ORG · 4× Arizona State’s ORG · 4× Fette PERSON · 3× Moa PERSON · 3× ASU ORG · 2× Big 12 ORG · 2×

Narrative

Arizona State’s strong third quarter made the Sun Devils look back at a first half where they gained only 93 total yards as a missed opportunity.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-01

Claims (41 extracted, 0 hedged)

PROVO, Utah (AP) — Bear Bachmeier threw for 236 yards and a touchdown to lead No. 8 BYU to a 27-20 victory over Arizona State on Saturday. asserted
Bachmeier → throw → Saturday
The Cougars (7-1, 4-1 Big 12) shut out the Sun Devils in the fourth quarter to pull away for the win. asserted
Cougars → shut → win
After Matthias Dunn put BYU ahead for good on a 45-yard field goal, Sione Moa punched it in from a yard out to seal the victory with 2:09 left. asserted
Moa → put → 2:09
Bachmeier converted two fourth downs before Moa’s second TD to keep the drive alive. asserted
Bachmeier → convert → drive
“We’re not playing to lose,” Bachmeier said. asserted
Bachmeier → play → ?
Cardae Mack totaled 170 all-purpose yards to lead Arizona State. asserted
Mack → total → State
Jake Fette threw for 166 yards and two touchdowns. asserted
Fette → throw → yards
The Sun Devils (4-4, 2-3) lost to a Top-10 opponent on the road for the third time this season. asserted
Devils → lose → time
This latest setback ended up being much closer than the previous two. asserted
setback → end → two
“They made things difficult for us and made it interesting, especially at the end,” BYU coach Kalani Sitake said. asserted
Sitake → make → end
Fette threw a pair of third-quarter touchdown passes to help Arizona State erase a 14-point deficit. asserted
State → throw → deficit
The Sun Devils converted three third downs on the first scoring drive, culminating in Omarion Miller’s 20-yard TD catch. asserted
Devils → convert → catch
Then they converted two fourth downs on the next drive before Anthony Miller Jr.’s 1-yard scoring catch made it 17-17. asserted
it → convert → drive
Adrian Wilson recovered a fumble by Kyler Kasper at the BYU 39 to set up Arizona State’s second touchdown drive. asserted
Wilson → recover → drive
“We really simplified in the second half for him and I thought that was a positive,” Sun Devils coach Kenny Dillingham said. asserted
Dillingham → simplify → him
“You always want to do that with a young quarterback.” asserted
You → want → quarterback
Fette got off to a turbulent start in his first career start. asserted
Fette → get → start
He fumbled on the third play of Arizona State’s opening drive. asserted
He → fumble → drive
Isaiah Glasker pounced on the ball at the Sun Devil 29, setting up BYU’s first touchdown. asserted
Glasker → pounce → touchdown
Ironically, the Cougars scored following another fumble. asserted
Cougars → score → fumble
Moa scooped up the ball after Bachmeier coughed it up inside the ASU 1 and scampered over the goal line to put BYU up 7-0. asserted
Bachmeier → scoop → BYU
Bachmeier threaded a ball through traffic to Kyler Kaspar on a 13-yard touchdown pass to extend the Cougars’ lead to 17-3 before halftime. asserted
Bachmeier → thread → halftime
Arizona State’s strong third quarter made the Sun Devils look back at a first half where they gained only 93 total yards as a missed opportunity. asserted
they → make → opportunity
“I need to come out better in the first half,” Fette said. asserted
Fette → need → half
“A quarterback can’t start that slow in the first half in a big game like this. asserted
quarterback → start → this
So if I come out (strong) in the first half, like we did in the second half, I think we win this game.” asserted
we → come → game
A lack of a consistent passing game made Arizona State’s offense one-dimensional and kept the Sun Devils from completing a second-half comeback. asserted
offense → make → comeback
BYU clamped down on defense early, registering six sacks and forcing a turnover before halftime. asserted
BYU → clamp → halftime
It helped the Cougars weather an inconsistent offense in the second half. asserted
It → help → half
BYU converted a pair of fourth downs on its final scoring drive. asserted
BYU → convert → drive
Bachmeier threw a 5-yard pass on 4th-and-4 from the ASU 6 to set up Moa’s second 1-yard TD run a play later. asserted
Bachmeier → throw → run
Bachmeier and the offense stayed on the field on 4th-and-1 at the BYU 14 yard line with the Cougars holding a 3-point lead. asserted
Cougars → stay → lead
He plowed ahead and got the first down with a yard to spare. asserted
He → plow → yard
“The team was all for it,” Sitake said. asserted
Sitake → say → it
I can be convinced pretty easily.” asserted
I → convince → ?
The fourth down gamble paid off. asserted
gamble → pay → ?
Bachmeier hit Legend Glasker on a 53-yard pass on the next play and the Cougars eventually drove 95 yards in 11 plays to seal the win. asserted
Cougars → hit → win
Bottled Up Reed Harris finished with four yards on one catch for Arizona State. asserted
Harris → bottle → State
Harris entered the week as the Big 12 leader in receiving yards (800) and receiving yards per game (114.3). asserted
Harris → enter → game
He had four 100-yard games through the Sun Devils first seven games this season. asserted
He → have → games
…and 1 more, not listed.
💬Give feedback
🕘History 🎫Support