Career: Started 28 career games at quarterback and played in 34 games overall ... Graduated in June, 2008, and was enrolled in graduate school during his senior season ... Closed career ranked second on NU's career list for completions (664), third for passing yardage (7,319), third for passing TD's (43) and third in total offense (7,571) ... Owned a 16-12 record as NU's starting QB ... Finished fifth on NU's career pass efficiency rating chart (121.15) ... Threw for 200 or more yards in 23 of 28 career starts ... Excellent passer who possessed a quick release ... Saw the field extremely well ... Very capable runner ... Named a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar in 2009.
2008: Starting quarterback ... Team captain ... One of 26 quarterbacks nationally named to Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award Watch List ... Tabbed The Sporting News' Big Ten's "Best Player Under Pressure" ... Ranked 15th nationally in completions per game (22.3) ... Named team's offensive big playmaker vs. Duke, Iowa, Michigan and Illinois and team's offensive player of the game vs. Iowa ... Had started 25 consecutive games before missing the game against Minnesota due to a hamstring injury suffered at Indiana ... Also missed Ohio State game due to injury ... In 2008 Valero Alamo Bowl, threw for a season-high 304 yards on 27-of-43 passing with three TD's, including a 46-yard strike to Rasheed Ward ... Also had TD passes of 35 yards (to Eric Peterman) and 23 yards (to Ross Lane) ... It marked his seventh career 300-yard passing game ... Tied the Alamo Bowl single-game passing TD (3) record ... In regular season finale vs. Illinois, threw for 230 yards and two TD's -- his 13th and 14th of the year -- on 22-of-33 passing and rushed for 34 yards ... Returned as the starter at Michigan, finishing 17-of-29 for 198 yards and two TD's, including a 53-yard strike to Eric Peterman ... Threw for 155 yards on 21-of-34 passing and two INT's against the Hoosiers while running for a career-high 64 rushing yards and one TD, the eighth rushing score of his career ... Racked up 220 passing yards on 20-of-33 passing while throwing three TD's and one INT against Purdue ... Set a career high with 15 rushing attempts, gaining 41 yards on the ground and running for one TD ... Totaled a season-high 315 yards of total offense (283 passing, 32 rushing) against Michigan State ... Completed 34-of-61 (career most attempts and fourth most in a game by an NU player) passes for 283 yards, a TD and two INT's vs. MSU ... Had eight carries for 32 yards and a TD ... Earned his third career Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week award for his efforts at Iowa: 28-of-45 for 284 yards, three TD's, one interception and 15 rushing yards ... Threw three straight TD passes after NU fell behind 17-3 to the Hawkeyes ... It was his third career Big Ten player-of-the-week honor ... Against Ohio, completed 18-of-35 passes for 133 yards and rushed for 37 yards on 11 carries ... Against Southern Illinois, threw for 184 yards on 21-of-29 passing while rushing for 21 yards on six carries ... Completed 14-of-31 passes for 226 yards against Duke, gained 15 yards on four carries and caught the first pass of his career, a 25-yard completion from wide receiver Eric Peterman to set up NU's second touchdown ... Threw for 215 yards and three touchdowns on 23-of-35 passing and had four carries for 19 yards against Syracuse ... Second in Big Ten with 256.8 yards of total offense per game ... Academic All-Big Ten ... Named to NFF's Hampshire Honor Society.
2007: Starting quarterback ... CoSIDA first-team Academic All-District V selection ... Honorable mention All-Big Ten selection (media) ... Academic All-Big Ten ... Set NU's single-season passing mark with 3,656 yards (seventh-most in Big Ten history) ... Totaled 3,687 yards of total offense, which is second-most in an NU single-season ... Led Big Ten in total offense and passing yards per game ... Directed four come-from-behind/OT victories ... Totaled 990 passing yards, 1,016 yards of total offense, 9 passing TD's, 1 rushing TD and no turnovers in back-to-back games vs. Michigan State and Minnesota ... His 990 yards is the second-most two-game total in consecutive Big Ten outings, second only to Purdue's Drew Brees, who accounted for 1,016 yards in 1998 (vs. Minnesota and Wisconsin) ... Added 361 yards vs. Eastern Michigan (25-of-42, 1 TD, 1 rushing TD) to give him a school-record three-game total of 1,351 passing yards and 10 TD's ... Completed 41-of-58 passes for 470 yards (third-highest NU single-game total) and four TD's against Minnesota ... Also had 21 rushing yards and a TD vs. the Gophers ... Led NU back from a 35-14 deficit with two TD passes and a 6-yard TD run in the game's final 17 minutes ... Hit Eric Peterman on fourth down with eight seconds left to tie the game ... Earned Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honors for a second consecutive time ... Also tabbed an AT&T All-America Player of the Week Award nominee ... Earned an ESPN College Gameday "Helmet Sticker" for his performance against Minnesota ... Passed the 3,000-yard mark for career passing vs. Minny ... Shattered NU's all-time single-game passing yardage mark with a career day against Michigan State: 38-of-48 passing (.792 percentage) for a school-record 520 yards, 5 TD's and no interceptions ... The 520 yards is the sixth-best passing day in Big Ten history (fifth-best at the time) ... Had 525 yards of total offense, the third-highest single-game total ... Threw TD passes on NU's last five scores against the Spartans, including the game-winning TD in overtime, a 12-yard pass to Omar Conteh ... Also had TD passes of 78 (to Jeff Yarbrough) and 70 yards (Eric Peterman) for his two longest pass completions to date ... Named the Big Ten's Offensive Player of the Week, as well as the Walter Camp National Offensive Player of the Week and an AT&T All-America Player of the Week nominee (one of four players up for the award) ... Passed the 2,000-yard mark for career passing yardage vs. Duke ... Opened season with an efficient performance against Northeastern: 23-of-29 passing for 243 yards, 1 TD and no interceptions ... Had a pass efficiency rating (PER) of 161.08 ... Completed season's first seven pass attempts ... Led NU to a thrilling come-from-behind win over Nevada, directing an 80-yard, six-play drive in just 51 seconds ... The drive ended with a 13-yard strike to a diving Ross Lane in the back of the end zone for the game-winning TD ... Finished 20-of-45 throwing for 227 yards and three TD passes ... Added 60 rushing yards, including 35 yards on the final drive, for 287 yards of total offense ... Completed 30-of-50 passes for 368 yards and 403 total offensive yards against Duke ... His 368 passing yards was the 12th-highest single-game total in NU history (sharing the 12th spot with Brett Basanez, who had 368 vs. Illinois in 2002) ... His 403 total yards ranks 14th on NU's single-game best list ... Had a career-long 35-yard scramble vs. the Blue Devils ... Had a string of 105 consecutive pass attempts without an interception end on the second play of the game vs. Duke ... Went 111 straight attempts without an interception (from Michigan to Eastern Michigan) .. Completed 17-of-32 passes for 120 yards and two interceptions at Ohio State ... Rang up 289 passing yards (22-of-42) and three interceptions against Michigan ... Completed 20-of-39 passes for 208 yards, a TD and 3 INT's at Purdue ... Had 264 passing yards (27-of-54) with 3 INT's against Iowa ... Led NU to a come-from-behind victory over Indiana, directing a 12-play, 73-yard drive in the final minutes, which was capped with a 3-yard TD pass to Ross Lane with 44 seconds left ... Finished the game 26-of-33 for 276 yards, a TD and 3 INT's ... Closed season with a 310-yard passing day (29-of-49) against Illinois ... Had 2 TD's and 2 INT's vs. the Illini ... Threw for 200-plus yards in first eight collegiate starts ... Thrown for 200-plus yards in 16 of 17 starts ... Ranked 12th nationally in total offense (307.3 ypg), 10th nationally in passing yards (304.7 ypg), eighth nationally in completions per game (26.5) and 69th nationally in PER ... Threw three TD passes of 70 yards or more (70, 71 and 78) ... Recorded the first-, third-, 12th- and 14th-best passing games in NU history ... Named team's offensive big playmaker of the week six times.
2006: Academic All-Big Ten ... Entered preseason camp as one of three quarterbacks vying for the starting job ... An injury to his leg (stress fracture) during the preseason slowed his progress ... Medically cleared on Sept. 25 ... Made season's first appearance late in the game against Purdue: completed 2-of-4 passes for 24 yards and ran for 10 yards on four carries ... Was named the starter for the Michigan State game one day prior to kickoff (Oct. 20) ... Making his first collegiate start against MSU, responded with three touchdown passes on 15-of-29 passing for 245 yards ... Started the game 15-of-22 for 245 yards, three TD's and no INT's ... In the game's final 17 minutes, was 0-of-7 with two interceptions ... Threw three passes of 30 or more yards: 30, 47 and 52 yards ... Despite the rough finish, still had a pass efficiency rating of better than 140.0 for the game ... Versus Michigan, went 20-of-41 for 204 yards and two interceptions ... Completed 19-of-29 passes (65.5 percent) for 218 yards, a TD and two interceptions in win at Iowa ... Went 17-of-28 for 212 yards, a TD and two interceptions vs. Ohio State ... Closed the season vs. Illinois with perhaps his best effort: 22-of-30 passing (73.3 percent) for a season-best 269 yards and 1 TD ... Threw for 200-plus yards in all five starts.
2005: Academic All-Big Ten ... Backup quarterback ... Redshirt freshman ... Played in five games ... Suffered a broken pinky finger in practice on Sept. 28, but continued to play with the injury ... Made first collegiate appearance in fourth quarter vs. Ohio ... Totaled 14 rushing yards vs. the Bobcats ... Completed 1-of-3 passes for 3 yards and an interception vs. Ohio ... Played final two series vs. Arizona State and tossed his first collegiate TD -- a 12-yard strike to freshman Rasheed Ward with 14:53 to play in the fourth quarter ... Also one carry for seven yards vs. the Sun Devils ... Spelled Brett Basanez for a few plays against Purdue, and completed a key third-down screen pass to Tyrell Sutton ... Played the final series at Michigan State, but did not attempt a pass ... Played the fourth quarter vs. Ohio State and completed 3-of-9 passes for 32 yards, which included a season-long 25 yard completion to Eric Peterman ... Played a total of 53 snaps.
2004: Did not see action.
High School: SuperPrep All-American ... Ranked 14th nationally among quarterbacks by Rivals.com and 21st nationally by SuperPrep ... Ranked 28th-best player overall in the western United States by SuperPrep and 55th in the West by Rivals.com ... PrepStar all-region selection ... Ranked as nation's 14th-best dual-threat quarterback by Rivals.com ... Named an Old Spice Red Zone High School Player of the Year -- one of 50 players honored nationally ... Delta League Offensive MVP ... Red Zone National Player of the Year ... All-San Joaquin CIF Section (Division I) ... All Sac-Metro (team named by Sacramento Bee) ... 2003 team MVP ... During four-year career, completed 406-of-681 passes (59.6 percent) for 6,625 yards, 69 touchdowns and 24 interceptions ... Also rushed for 20 career TD's ... Completed 129-of-206 passes for 2,163 yards, 23 touchdowns and eight interceptions his senior season (2003) ... Led the Marauders to a 40-3 record during his career, including a perfect 13-0 season and a section championship in 2002 ... One of his top games came in the 2002 postseason when he led Jesuit to a victory over Grant by completing 18-of-21 passes for 256 yards and two TD's ... Northern California Optimist All-Star ... Hails from the same high school that has produced NFL quarterbacks Ken O'Brien (Jets), Gio Carmazzi (49ers) and J.T. O'Sullivan (Saints) ... Recipient of school's Excellence Award (given for leadership, academics and athletics) ... California Scholastic Federation recipient ... Also lettered three years in basketball ... Coached by Dan Carmazzi.
Personal: Born Christopher James Bachér ... Son of K.C. and Susie Bachér ... Father was an all-conference performer at New Hampshire ... Chose NU over Oregon State and Arizona ... Earned his undergraduate degree in communication studies ... Earning master's in communication studies.
The Bachér File
Q: Name five favorite songs (and artist) on your I-Pod:
A: Water Runs Dry -- Boyz II Men; Tough -- Craig Morgan; God Only Knows -- Beach Boys; The Good Stuff -- Kenny Chesney; If You really Love Me -- Stevie Wonder
Q: What is the greatest lesson in life that you have learned?
A: Perseverance pays off
Q: Something people would be surprised to know about me is:
A: I like to sing
Q: My favorite place to visit is:
A: Lake Tahoe
Q: Which current NU football player is the biggest jokester on the team?
A: Chris Malleo
Q: My favorite thing about NU is:
A: Playing in the Big Ten while getting a world-class education.
Q: Best part about being a Northwestern football player is:
A: Winning games
Q: Describe Coach Fitzgerald in five words or less:
A: Passion
Q: Describe your position coach (Garrick McGee) in five words or less:
A: Dedicated teacher of football strategy
Q: Most humbling experience:
A: My first 7-on-7 the summer of my incoming freshman year
Q: What do you consider to be your greatest achievement?
A: Remains to be seen
Q: The person that inspires me the most is:
A: My Dad. He's successful in everything he does.
Q: When I played football as a kid, I pretended to be:
A: Phil Simms
Q: My favorite pregame ritual is:
A: Making fun of Tyrell for taping up his fingers
Q: If you could have a starring role in any film already made, which movie would you pick?
A: Mel Gibson in the Patriot
Q: My favorite food is:
A: My mom's BBQ ribs
Q: My favorite thing about playing at Ryan Field is:
A: Singing the fight song with our student section
Q: My ultimate SportsCenter highlight would be:
A: One of our O-linemen scooping and scoring from 30 ... okay maybe 20 yards out
Q: My favorite television show is:
A: 24
Q: If I were not playing football, I would be:
A: A full-time student
Bachér's Career Stats
RUSHING G Att Yds TD Lg Avg/C Avg/G2005................ 5 6 25 0 18 4.2 5.02006................ 6 22 -34 1 12 -1.5 -5.72007................ 12 86 31 4 35 0.4 2.62008................ 11 84 230 3 27 2.7 20.9TOTAL............... 34 198 252 8 35 1.3 7.4
PASSING G Att- Cmp- Int Yds TD Lg Pct Avg/P Avg/G Effic2005................ 5 15- 6- 1 59 1 25 40.0 3.9 11.8 81.72006................ 6 161- 95- 8 1172 6 52 59.0 7.3 195.3 122.52007................ 12 521- 318- 19 3656 19 78 61.0 7.0 304.7 124.72008................ 11 408- 245- 15 2432 17 53 60.0 6.0 221.1 116.5TOTAL............... 34 1105- 664- 43 7319 43 78 60.1 6.6 215.3 120.8
TOTAL OFFENSE G Rush Pass Total Avg/G2005................ 5 25 59 84 16.82006................ 6 -34 1172 1138 189.72007................ 12 31 3656 3687 307.22008................ 11 230 2432 2662 242.0TOTAL............... 34 252 7319 7571 222.7
RECEIVING G Rec Yds TD Lg Rec/G Avg/C Avg/G2005................ 5 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.02006................ 6 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.02007................ 12 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.02008................ 11 1 25 0 25 0.1 25.0 2.3TOTAL............... 34 1 25 0 25 0.0 25.0 0.7
SCORING G TD Rush Pass Retn PAT 2PAT FG Total Avg/G2005................ 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.02006................ 6 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 6 1.02007................ 12 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 24 2.02008................ 11 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 18 1.6TOTAL............... 34 8 8 0 0 0 0 0 48 1.4
ALL PURPOSE G Rush Rec PR KR IR Total Avg/G2005................ 5 25 0 0 0 0 25 5.02006................ 6 -34 0 0 0 0 -34 -5.72007................ 12 31 0 0 0 0 31 2.62008................ 11 230 25 0 0 0 255 23.2TOTAL............... 34 252 25 0 0 0 277 8.1
TACKLES G UA A Total TFL-Yds PD FF FR Blkd2005................ 5 0 0 0 0.0-0 0 0 0 02006................ 6 0 0 0 0.0-0 0 0 0 02007................ 12 1 0 1 0.0-0 0 0 0 02008................ 11 1 0 1 0.0-0 0 0 0 0TOTAL............... 34 2 0 2 0.0-0 0 0 0 0