C.J. Bacher
From NCAA College Football Information & Resource
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C.J. Bacher (born Christopher James Bachér on September 25, 1985 in Sacramento, CA) plays quarterback for the Northwestern University Wildcats in the NCAA college football tournament. Bachér (pronounced buh-SHAY) has grown from being a reliable back up to one of the Cats' go-to-guys when the team is seeking for big offensive plays. Even before his career at Northwestern drew to a close, Bachér has already written his name in some pages of the school's record books in the passing category and is looking to become the fourth QB under the tutelage of Dan Carmazzi at Jesuit High School to enter the ranks of the National Football League.
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Personal Life
Christopher James is the son of K.C. and Susie Bachér and is the brother of Stephanie. C.J. is a second-generation athlete, following the footsteps of his father who was an all-conference performer at New Hampshire as a defensive back. His dad also coached him through the eighth grade. He has earned his undergraduate degree in communication studies and is working on his masters at Northwestern University.
C.J.'s football career had its humble beginnings when he was just eight years old. He started out playing flag football when the family resided in Hawaii. His father was an Air Force officer so the family moved often before finally settling down in California shortly after his father's retirement.
One of C.J.'s hobbies is singing, in fact, his musical interest vary widely from country to R&B.
High School
Bachér attended Jesuit High School in Carmichael, Calif., the same school that produced the likes of NFL quarterbacks Ken O'Brien, Gio Carmazzi, and J.T. O'Sullivan. Bachér, who also lettered for three seasons in basketball, played under the tutelage of head coach Dan Carmazzi and got his break during his junior year when he was named as the starting QB. That year, Bachér led the Marauders from a disappointing season in 2001 to a remarkable run in '02 when Jesuit High went undefeated in 13 games to claim the section championship. One of his noteworthy performances that year was during a post-season win by the Marauders over Grant where he went 18-for-21 for 256 yards and two TD's. His senior year, the Northern California Optimist All-Star once again produced impressive numbers of 2,163 passing yards and 23 scoring throws on 129-of-206 completion with only eight interceptions, although Jesuit High failed to replicate its success the previous year after losing two games.
Nonetheless, Bachér emerged to become one of the highly-decorated QBs in the nation after 2003, taking home numerous accolades including the Old Spice Red Zone High School Player of the Year (one of 50 players honored nationally), the Red Zone National Player of the Year, and the Delta League Offensive MVP awards. He was also chosen as the team MVP, and picked to be on the All-San Joaquin CIF Section (Division I) and the All Sac-Metro (team named by Sacramento Bee) selections. He finished his career at Jesuit with a 406-of-681 completion (59.6 percent) for 6,625 yards, 69 touchdowns and 24 interceptions in addition to 20 career rushing touchdowns. As one of the highly-recruited prospects, he was ranked 21st nationally among quarterbacks, listed as the 28th-best player overall in the western United States and selected as an All-American by SuperPrep, and an all-region pick by PrepStar. Rivals also ranked him as the No.14 QB in the nation and the No.55 player overall in the West, as well as the No.14 among its list of best dual-threat quarterbacks in the nation.
Academically, Bachér was a California Scholastic Federation recipient and was awarded with the school's Excellence Award (given for leadership, academics and athletics).
College
A three-star rated recruit, Bachér was recruited by several Division I schools. He found himself in the middle of a recruiting battle between several schools in the West and Northwestern. He verbally committed to Oregon State but changed his mind after visiting Northwestern later that month, deciding to become a Wildcat instead. Other schools that also offered scholarships include Arizona, Boise State, and Utah.
2004
In his first year at NU, Bachér redshirted behind third-year starting QB Brett Basanez and back-up Chris Malleo.
2005
As a redshirt freshman, Bachér played back-up to Basanez for five games. He made his collegiate debut in the fourth quarter of the Ohio game where he completed 1-of-3 passes for 3 yards and threw his first career interception in addition to 14 rushing yards in the 38-14 win. He also saw action in the final two series of the lopsided loss at Arizona State where he threw his first collegiate touchdown, a 12-yarder to fellow freshman Rasheed Ward, with 14:53 to play in the fourth quarter. He got hurt during a Sept. 28 practice, but continued to play through a broken pinky finger. At Purdue, he replaced Basanez for a few plays and completed a key third-down screen pass to Tyrell Sutton for 12 yards in the 34-29 win. He also played the final series at Michigan State but saw his most extensive action at Ohio State where he completed 3-of-9 passes for 32 yards in the fourth quarter, which include a season-long 25 yard completion to Eric Peterman in the 7-48 defeat. He finished the season completing 6-of-15 passes for 59 yards and 1 TD with 1 INT to go with 6 carries for 25 yards in 53 total snaps.
2006
Entering the fall camp, Bachér was expected to take over the starting spot until an inadvertent kick to his right leg took him out of the three-way competition due to a stress fracture. He wasn't cleared to play until late September. Although he received the greenlight to play, the coaches decided to stick with Andrew Brewer until the Purdue game when he finally got to see his first playing minutes of the season, completing 2 of four passes for 24 yards with 4 carries for 10 yards in a mop-up job. Two days after the loss to the Boilermakers, coach Pat Fitzgerald named Brewer the starter for the rest of the season but eventually changed his mind in favor of Bachér a day prior to kickoff after the Calif. native aced a written exam given to the quarterbacks. In his first career start vs. MSU, Bachér engineered a 14-play, 71-yard drive on Northwestern's first possession, capping it with a 5-yard touchdown pass. He was on fire in the early stages against the Spartans as he went 15-of-22 for 245 yards and three touchdowns without an interception with the Wildcats building a 38-3 third-quarter lead. But what was supposed to be a Cinderella story for Bachér turned into a tragic ending when the Spartans mounted the largest comeback in NCAA history, scoring 38 unanswered points enroute to a 38-41 victory. Bachér showed his inexperience under pressure as he went 0-of-7 with two interceptions in the game's final 17 minutes when MSU staged its rally. He finished that game on 15-of-29 completion for 245 yards with a season high 3 TDs and 2 picks.
Despite a disappointing performance against MSU, Bachér remained as starter for the Michigan game where he was 20-for-41 for 204 yards but had no touchdowns with 2 picks, a lost fumble, and a season low 80.82 QB rating in the 3-17 loss to the Wolverines. He finally notched his first win as starter at Iowa, leading the 'Cats with his 19-of-29 completion for 218 yards and 1 TD with 2 interceptions in the 21-7 victory. Against Ohio State, he went 17-for-28 for 212 yards, a TD and two interceptions in the 10-54 setback to the Buckeyes, before ending the year with what was probably his finest showing during the year when he completed 22-of-30 passing (73.3 percent) for a season-best 269 yards and 1 TD without a pick in the 27-16 win. He finished the year going 95-for-161 for 1,172 yards and six TDs with 8 interceptions and 200-plus passing yards in all of his five starts.
2007
Heading into his junior season, Bachér was the clear-cut starter for the Wildcats. He began the year completing 23-of-29 passes for 243 yards, 1 TD, no interceptions, and a pass efficiency rating (PER) of 161.08 in the 27-point shut-out of Northeastern. The following week, he led the Cats to an impressive come-from-behind win over Nevada after directing an 80-yard, six-play drive in just 51 seconds that ended with his 13-yard touchdown pass to a diving Ross Lane in the back of the end zone for the game-winning score. He finished that game completing 20-of-45 passes for 227 yards and three TDs in addition to a season high 60 rushing yards for 287 yards of total offense. Against Duke, he completed 30-of-50 passes for 368 yards (tied for 12th-highest single-game total in NU history with Basanez) and finished with 403 total offensive yards (14th on NU's single-game best list) in the disappointing 14-20 loss to the Blue Devils. At No.8 OSU, he was held to a season low 72.13% QB rating after going 17-for-32 for a season low 120 yards with two interceptions in the 7-58 defeat to the Buckeyes. On the ensuing game against Michigan, he threw for 289 yards (22-of-42) but was picked off a season high three times in the 16-28 defeat to the Wolverines. During that three game losing streak, Bachér was intercepted seven times and threw no TDs. At Michigan State, Bachér made up for the previous season's "boo-boo" by breaking the school's all-time single-game passing yardage mark with a career high 520 yards (6th-best passing day in Big Ten history, 5th-best at the time) and five TDs without an interception on 38-of-48 passing to lead the Cats to a 48-41 victory. One of his 5 TDs was the game-winning 12-yard throw to Omar Conteh in overtime while two others, a 78-yarder to Jeff Yarbrough and a 70-yarder to Peterman, were listed as two of the longest completions of his career. He also racked up 525 yards of total offense which at that time was the 3rd-highest single-game total. His performance got him weekly accolades from the Big Ten and Walter Camp and a nomination for the AT&T All-America Player of the Week award.
Bachér also dished out an impressive performance the following week against Minnesota after leading an NU comeback from a 3-TD deficit with his two touchdown passes and another six yard scoring run in the game's final 17 minutes en route to a 49-48 Wildcat win. He finished that game completing 41-of-58 passes for 470 yards (third-highest NU single-game total) and four TDs with 21 rush yards and another score to bag a second straight Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honors, a second consecutive nomination for the AT&T All-America Player of the Week Award, and an ESPN College Gameday "Helmet Sticker." In that two-game stretch, he collected 990 passing yards (2nd-most two-game total in consecutive Big Ten outings behind Drew Brees' 1,016 yards in '98), 1,016 yards of total offense, 9 passing TD's, 1 rushing TD and no turnovers. Against Eastern Michigan, he piloted the Cats to a 3rd straight win after completing 25-of-42 passes for 361 yards and 1 TD with 1 rushing TD in the 26-14 victory. His output against the Eagles gave him a school-record 3-game total of 1,351 passing yards and 10 TDs. He also went 111 straight attempts without an interception before getting picked off vs. EMU. At Purdue, he completed 20-of-39 passes for 208 yards and a TD but matched his season high of 3 interceptions in the 17-35 loss to the Boilers. Against Iowa, he went 27-of-54 for 264 yards and a TD but had another 3-INT game in the 17-28 defeat to the Hawkeyes. Against Indiana, although he was intercepted thrice for the third straight game, Bachér redeemed himself by leading the team to its fourth come-from-behind win of the season after directing a 12-play, 73-yard drive in the final minutes which was sealed by his 3-yard TD pass to Lane with 44 seconds left for a 31-28 triumph. He finished that game completing 26-of-33 passes for 276 yards and a TD. In the season-finale at No.20 Illinois, he had his 4th 300-yard game after passing for 310 yards on 29-of-49 completion with 2 TDs and 2 INTs in the 19-point setback.
He finished the season with a single-season passing mark of 3,656 yards (seventh-most in Big Ten history), completing 318 of 521 passes with 19 touchdowns and 19 interceptions. He also had 3,687 yards of total offense (2nd-most in an NU single-season) while leading the league in total offense (307.3 ypg, 12th in the nation) and passing yards per game (304.7 ypg, 10th in the nation). Three of his 19 TDs also went 70 yards or more (70, 71 and 78) and recorded the first-, third-, 12th- and 14th-best passing games in NU history. His performance that year netted him several postseason accolades, including an honorable mention All-Big Ten from the media with six offensive big playmaker of the week honors from the team. In addition, he was named a 2007 CoSIDA first-team Academic All-District V selection and an Academic All-Big Ten pick.
2008
During the preseason, Bachér was one of the 26 quarterbacks in the nation named to the 2008 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award preseason watch list for the nation's top senior collegiate quarterback. In the season-opener, he went 23-for-35 for 215 yards and 3 touchdowns with an interception in a 30-10 win over Syracuse. At Duke, he was 14-of-31 for 226 yards as NU topped the Blue Devils, 24-20. Against Southern Illinois, he completed a season high 72.4% of his passes (21-of-29) for 184 yards in the 33-7 rout. Against Ohio, he only threw for 133 yards on 18-of-35 completion and was intercepted a career low four times in the low-scoring 16-8 win. The following week at Iowa, Bachér made up for his sloppy performance by guiding the unbeaten Wildcats to a 22-17 come-from-behind win over the Hawkeyes after completing 28 of 45 passes for 284 yards and three touchdowns against a lone interception. After that game, he moved into the 3rd spot of the school's all-time passing yardage list. In NU's first loss of the season against the 23rd ranked Spartans, he only completed 34 of 61 passes for 283 yards and a TD with a pair of interceptions. He improved his game against Purdue, going 20-for-33 for 230 yards and 3 TDs with an interception in a 48-26 victory. At Indiana, he completed 21 of 34 passes for 155 yards and threw two interceptions before leaving late with a leg injury in the 19-21 loss. He dressed for the Minnesota game, but did not play due to the right hamstring injury sustained against the Hoosiers. With Mike Kafka playing well against the Gophers, coach Fitzgerald decided to rest Bachér in the 10-45 setback to the 12th ranked Buckeyes.
Bacher returned to the starting line-up at Michigan and tossed a pair of TD passes, including a season-long 53-yarder to Eric Peterman in the 21-14 win over the Wolverines. He finished that game completing 17-of-29 passes for 198 yards. In the regular-season finale against Illinois, he completed 22-of-33 passes for 230 yards and a pair of TDs as the Wildcats defeated the Illini, 27-10. At the Valero Alamo Bowl, Bacher made his 28th (and final) career start and went out with a bang after tying the Alamo Bowl record with three touchdown passes in a heartbreaking overtime loss to Missouri. He finished the game completing 27-of-43 passes for a season-high 304 yards (sixth 300-yard career passing game), 3 TDs and 1 interception. He closed out his Wildcat career ranking third on NU’s passing TD list with 43, with 7,319 career passing yards (third all-time), 7,571 yards of total offense (third all-time) and 664 career completions (second all-time).
Career Stats
| Passing | Rushing | |||||||||||||||
| Year | Cmp | Att | Yds | Cmp% | Ypa | Lng | TD | Int | Sack | Rat | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | Att/G | Yds/G |
| 2005 | 6 | 15 | 59 | 40.0 | 3.93 | 25 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 81.70 | 6 | 25 | 4.17 | 0 | 1.20 | 5.00 |
| 2006 | 95 | 161 | 1172 | 59.0 | 7.28 | 52 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 122.52 | 22 | -34 | -1.55 | 1 | 2.75 | -4.25 |
| 2007 | 318 | 521 | 3656 | 61.0 | 7.02 | 78 | 19 | 19 | 32 | 124.72 | 86 | 31 | 0.36 | 4 | 7.17 | 2.58 |
| 2008 | 245 | 408 | 2432 | 60.0 | 5.96 | 53 | 17 | 15 | 13 | 116.52 | 84 | 230 | 2.7 | 3 | 7.6 | 20.9 |
Highlights
| One on One Interview with C.J. Bachér (2008). |
Achievements
2008
- Academic All-Big Ten
- Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week (vs. Iowa)
- Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award preseason watch list
2007
- Academic All-Big Ten
- All-Big Ten Honorable mention (media)
- AT&T All-America Player of the Week Award nominee (vs. Michigan State, vs. Minnesota)
- Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week (vs. Michigan State, vs. Minnesota)
- CollegeFootballNews.com's #5 QB in the Big Ten
- CoSIDA first-team Academic All-District V
- ESPN College Gameday "Helmet Sticker" (vs. Minnesota)
- NU's offensive big playmaker of the week (6x)
- The Sporting News' Big Ten's "Best Player Under Pressure"
- Walter Camp National Offensive Player of the Week (vs. Michigan State)
2006
- Academic All-Big Ten
2005
- Academic All-Big Ten
References
- Bacher ready to take charge
- C.J. Bachér Cfbstats.com
- C.J. Bachér Northwestern Profile
- C.J. Bachér Scout.com Profile
- Head of the class
- Is C.J. Bachér The Man?
- The many faces of C.J. Bacher (Gameday)
