BYU Football Claims Two Individual Big 12 Week 14 Awards
Dec 1, 2025, 1:01 PM
PROVO, Utah – The BYU Cougars capped off their 2025 regular season with a flourish, downing the UCF Knights 41-21, with two players earning Big 12 honors along the way.
True freshman QB Bear Bachmeier earned the Big 12 Freshman of the Week award, capping a stellar campaign for the California native.
Redshirt junior wide receiver and kick returner Parker Kingston showed off his multi-faceted skillset while scoring on a punt return and catching a touchdown pass in the win to earn Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week recognition.
These weekly award winners wrapped up the regular season on a high note 🫡#Big12FB | @Venmo pic.twitter.com/A5weoy3PgR
— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) December 1, 2025
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Bear Bachmeier earns 7th Freshman of the Week award
After stepping into the starting QB role somewhat unexpectedly during fall camp, Bear Bachmeier has improved week after week. Nobody in August expected the true freshman to lead this BYU team to the Big 12 championship game, but that’s what seven conference Freshman of the Week awards will get you.
Bachmeier’s running ability was evident from his first start against Portland State in late August, but the development of his passing ability and the trust of offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick in his arm have been evident.
BIG 12 FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK ( 7x )@bearb47 🤝 @Big12Conference pic.twitter.com/deCQFNid4h
— BYU FOOTBALL (@BYUfootball) December 1, 2025
The 6’2, 230-pound, tailback-minded QB capped the regular season with a 21-for-25 passing performance, 289 yards, zero interceptions, and one 46-yard touchdown to Parker Kingston.
He set a new career-high by completing 84 percent of his passes.
Bachmieer ends the regular season with 2,593 passing yards and 14 touchdowns against just four interceptions.
He added 529 rushing yards (44.1 yards per game) and set a BYU QB program record with 11 touchdowns on the ground.
Parker Kingston punt return TD earns Big 12 honor
It’s been an up-and-down 2025 season for Kingston. The dynamic kick returner has been featured more prominently in the Cougar offense, but a series of muffs in the kicking game have kept him from truly breaking out.
The former Roy Royal played perhaps his best game of the season against UCF, becoming the first Big 12 player since 2016 to have 100+ receiving yards, a punt return TD, and a receiving TD in the same game.
RELATED: LJ Martin, Parker Kingston Combine For All 5 BYU TDs in UCF Win
BIG 12 SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK@ParkerKingston 🤝 @Big12Conference pic.twitter.com/T4UPcFloeC
— BYU FOOTBALL (@BYUfootball) December 1, 2025
Kingston gave his team all the momentum early in the second half when he used a burst of speed to split the Knights’ coverage team, before sprinting 55 yards for his first punt return TD of the season and third of his career. He is on TD shy of the program record set by James Dye (1995-1996) and Golden Richards (1970-1971)
Late in the same quarter, Kingston caught his fifth touchdown pass of the year on a 46-yard catch and run.
He leads the Big 12 in punt return yardage (185 yards) and averaged 13.2 yards per return this season. Kingston is also the only Big 12 player with a punt return TD in 2025.
Big 12 Football Championship
No. 11 BYU (11-1, 8-1 Big 12) vs. No. 5 Texas Tech (11-1, 8-1 Big 12)
The Cougars (11-1, 8-1 Big 12) will get a second crack at the Texas Tech Red Raiders in the Big 12 Football Championship on Saturday, December 6. Kickoff is at 10 a.m. MT.
Texas Tech handed BYU its only setback this season, blowing out the Cougars 29-7 nearly one month ago.
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Brian Preece is a KSLSports.com insider covering Locals in MLB and the Salt Lake Bees. Follow Brian’s Bees and Beehive baseball here. Find Brian on X, Instagram, and BlueSky at @bpreece24.
