Will Cougars be close to full strength in Pop-Tarts Bowl?

Opt-out season for college football playoff and bowl games got off to a rollicking start this month, as Notre Dame chose not to participate in a bowl game after being snubbed by the College Football Playoff committee, and coach Lane Kiffin left playoff-bound Ole Miss for the head job at LSU.

A lot of players have also announced their plans to enter the transfer portal, which opens Jan. 2 and closes on Jan. 16. In the Big 12, two prominent quarterbacks with eligibility remaining — Arizona State’s Sam Leavitt and Cincinnati’s Brendan Sorsby — have announced they are moving on and won’t be playing in bowl games against Duke and Navy, respectively.

Sorsby may end up in the NFL draft. UCF’s Tayven Jackson, who showed some flashes of brilliance in the Knights’ 41-21 loss at BYU last month, also intends to enter the portal.

In Provo, BYU fans have their fingers crossed ahead of the Pop-Tarts Bowl on Dec. 27, hoping that the No. 12 Cougars are as close to full strength as possible for their intriguing matchup with No. 22 Georgia Tech in Orlando (1:30 p.m. MST, ABC). Offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick said Thursday that freshman QB Bear Bachmeier (left ankle sprain) will play.

But what about everybody else? Will the Cougars have any opt-outs?

More will be learned Wednesday when head coach Kalani Sitake addresses the media after a morning practice, but for now it appears coordinators Aaron Roderick, Jay Hill and Kelly Poppinga will have their full complement of players in O-Town in a dozen days.

“I haven’t heard of any (opt-outs) yet,” Roderick said. “As far as I know, everybody’s excited to play in this game.”

Along with Bachmeier, all eyes are on junior running back LJ Martin, who is seriously contemplating a jump to the NFL after his third season at BYU. Martin has been practicing since the team started bowl prep last Thursday.

“The vibe I’ve gotten is everybody’s excited to play. These guys like football. They like to play. We’ll show up and play anywhere,” Roderick said. “Put the ball down out there in the parking lot, and we’ll come out and play. That’s been this team’s mentality the last two years I have been with them.

“Like last year, we played Colorado, we were super excited to play,” Roderick continued. “We’ll be excited to play again this time against Georgia Tech.”

Trio of Cougars are entering transfer portal

As of midday Monday, three BYU offensive players, all backups, had announced their intentions of entering the transfer portal: sophomore offensive lineman Jake Griffin, true freshman receiver LaMason Waller, and redshirt freshman receiver Dominique McKenzie.

Griffin’s father played football at Utah State. After a church mission to South Africa, Griffin could never crack the two-deep in three years in Provo, and played mostly on special teams in 2025, appearing in four games.

A speedster from St. George, McKenzie ran 41 yards for a touchdown against Portland State, and also saw action against Stanford, East Carolina, West Virginia, Utah and Iowa State. Having enrolled in January, Waller looked good in spring and fall camp, but sustained an injury late in fall camp and redshirted.

More portal entries are obviously expected, perhaps as soon as the bowl game ends. Last year, 15 Cougars hit the portal immediately after the 2024 season ended, while nearly 20 did so after spring camp, most notably receiver Keelan Marion and linebacker Harrison Taggart.

Of course, NIL enticements have changed almost everything. No team is safe from having its players lured away, but Roderick said he’s confident the Cougars will keep their fair share “just because of what kind of guys we have” on the 2025 team.

“These guys like to play. We have had a great year, and we have one last chance to go play together. That’s just who these guys are,” Roderick said. “They show up every week and that last game was a tough one, but we have showed up every game to compete and we will again.”

Will BYU’s defense have any opt-outs?

A couple of key defenders from BYU’s 11-2 team in 2025, linebacker Isaiah Glasker and defensive tackle Keanu Tanuvasa, chose to be honored on Senior Day last month, and did the “Senior Walk” after the big win over UCF, although both have another season of eligibility remaining if they want it.

Neither player had the type of dominant season that would suggest he would be anything but a Day 3 draft pick. On the other hand, linebacker Jack Kelly is probably BYU’s most draftable senior. Kelly and kicker Will Ferrin are headed to the Panini Senior Bowl.

Punter Sam Vander Haar, who is also listed as a redshirt junior on the roster, was also honored on Nov. 29.

Defensive coordinator Hill said Thursday that he expects the “big majority” of his defensive players to play in the bowl game.

“I mean, (opting out) is the way of the world right now. I don’t see it really happening that much at BYU,” Hill said. “We have great kids that want to play one more game together. That’s such an individual decision that they have to handle on their own.”