CFB Zeitgeist Score
41
Mid-pack in the position cohort. Carried by completion % at the 100th percentile.
McCae Hillstead
The Hope Economyas of 2026-06-22
McCae Hillstead arrives at BYU with a new fit to prove and an old chapter behind him.
33PASS YDS0PASS TD28RUSH YDS
BYU fans sell the ceiling harder than the résumé; the upside is the whole argument.
high confidence29 sources
Minority viewA vocal minority sees it the other way.
Read the story so far
AI narrative · updated 2026-06-22 · compiled from CFB Zeitgeist data
Where He Ended Up · Transfer
Transferred to Utah State
2025BYU
2026Utah State
QB · BYU · BIG 12
McCae Hillstead
- 2
- #3
- 5-10 | 195 lb
- Lehi, UT
Heisman Heat
#423
<1% win probability
Fan Belief
Awaiting
Player-specific FI not yet ingested. Falls back to team mood below.
Respect Gap
Awaiting
Coming online with player-level FI.
Reality Gap
Awaiting
Coming online with player-level FI.
ACCOLADE PROBABILITY
Heisman
<1%
TOP QB AWARD
Davey O'Brien
—
CONSENSUS
All-American
—
Player Standing · 17 rungs
Tier 2 · StarterR06 · Starter
Starter. A locked-in starting role.
Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
Development Trajectory · passing yards
2023–2025-97%
Sharp dropoff (-97%) — career inflection point.
Career Arc
HS
Recruit
★★★
CFB
College
2 teams
NFL
NFL Draft
—
Identity & Role
The durable bio layer: position, size, hometown, and roster role.
Recruiting Pedigree
How big the prospect was before college, and whether the later career arc beat that expectation.
| Class | Profile | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 3-star | 0.8433 | No. 1610 recruit | HighSchool | Utah State |
Transfer Arc
Portal movement changes role, context, and perception. This keeps that path in one place.
| Season | Move | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | BYU -> Utah State | 3-star | Immediate |
| 2024 | Utah State -> BYU | 3-star | 0.8500 | Immediate |
Heisman Lens · 2024 Season · Final
Where the player landed at the end of the listed season — final nowcast rank, win/finalist/ballot probabilities, and the cleanest official Heisman placement on file.
HIGH CONFIDENCE· through week 16Heisman Futures
Not yet listed on major futures markets.
No achievements unlocked yet this season.
Selector Grid · 2025
AP—
FWAA—
AFCA—
WCFF—
SN—
SI—
Selector recognition fills in once the major honors lists (AP, FWAA, AFCA, Walter Camp, Sporting News, SI) are scraped and ingested.
NIL · Recruiting · NFL Draft
Market value, pedigree & pro outcome
Recruit stars
★★★☆☆
to Utah State
Composite
0.8433
#1610 national
Today’s Hot-Take
The Hot-Take engine fires when this player’s percentile profile crosses a defensible threshold (top 10% in a cohort, 100+ snap sample). When it’s quiet, the model is honoring its “must be defensible” rule.
Anti-Take
PENDINGThe contrarian read fires when the rules-engine detects a stat that complicates the Hot-Take. Quiet here means the model hasn’t found a defensible counter yet — not that one doesn’t exist.
The Room on McCae Hillstead
Fan sentiment · Season 2025 conversation window
Belief Meter
71
Quietly Bullish
Top Take
“”
Trajectory
Per-cohort trajectory lands when historical bucket data is aggregated.
Cohort divergence map
- Own fans · n=35
- Rivals · n=2
Rival Radar
How rival fanbases talk about McCae Hillstead
Only 2 rival mention(s) — below the 4-mention floor for a defensible read.
Signature Story
Awaiting candidate metric
He hasn't written his page yet — we'll start filling it in when there are enough snaps to rank against his peers.
Signature Moment
No signature moment on the ledger yet.
Returns once this player puts together a multi-game body of work — single-game flashes alone don't clear the bar.
Season Pace · Projection
Where the passing totals stand
Through 4g
33Pass yards
0Pass TDs
0INT
Per game
8.2Pass yards
0Pass TDs
0INT
Projected (13g)
107.2Pass yards
0Pass TDs
0INT
To hit 3,000-yard season (currently 33): needs 329.7/game over remaining 9.
To hit 4,000-yard season (currently 33): needs 440.8/game over remaining 9.
To hit 25 passing TDs (currently 0): needs 2.8/game over remaining 9.
To hit 30 passing TDs (currently 0): needs 3.3/game over remaining 9.
To hit 35 passing TDs (currently 0): needs 3.9/game over remaining 9.
What made this player interesting
The fast read on the thing that makes this player more than a generic stat line.
McCae Hillstead's story is about how role and output meet each other. For BYU, the card already shows enough current-season production to explain why he is on the serious-player board, and the next layer is determining whether the profile is just very good or actually distinctive.
2025 Season · Final
Traditional stats first. Advanced context underneath.
Last season
QB season snapshot
2025 season snapshot | final
2025 season snapshot | finalData: CFBD player stats + local Heisman modelPeer context: same position + same level
Player identity What kind of player is this?
30-second read
What kind of player is this?
Highly efficient against FBS QB peers. The quickest read is whether the profile wins on volume, efficiency, explosiveness, or rushing value.
2025 Season · Final
2025 season snapshot | final
Passing Efficiency
CMP
4 19th
ATT
5 20th
CMP%
80.0% 93rd
Y/A
6.6 42nd
Passing Production
YDS
33 15th
TD
0 30th
INT
0 100th
Rushing
CAR
5 26th
YDS
28 46th
YPC
5.6 82nd
TD
0 44th
Game Log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 4 games
| Wk | Opp | CMP/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | YPA | QBR | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 69-0vs Portland State | 4/5 | 33 | 0 | 0 | 6.6 | 67.3 | Season-high 33 yds |
| Wk 4 | W 34-13@ East Carolina | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Wk 14 | W 41-21vs UCF | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Bowl | W 25-21vs Georgia Tech | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Total | 4/5 | 33 | 0 | 0 | 6.6 | 67.3 |
Season-by-season tables Career rows + per-season box score
Traditional history
Traditional Stats
Season rows up top, career context at the bottom.
Season context · Team result + system
2023Utah State6-7HC: Blake Anderson · Run-leaning
2025BYU12-2HC: Kalani Sitake · Run-leaning
| Season | Team | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | BYU | 4 | 5 | 80.0% | 33 | 6.6 | 0 | 0 | 135.4 | -- | -- |
| 2023 | Utah State | 94 | 158 | 59.5% | 1,062 | 6.7 | 11 | 8 | 128.8 | -- | -- |
| Career | 2 loaded seasons | 98 | 163 | 60.1% | 1,095 | 6.7 | 11 | 8 | 129.0 | -- | -- |
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | BYU | 5 | 28 | 5.6 | 0 | -- |
| 2023 | Utah State | 44 | 36 | 0.8 | 0 | -- |
| Career | 2 loaded seasons | 49 | 64 | 1.3 | 0 | -- |
Advanced layer Usage, value, and context
Advanced metrics second
Advanced Metrics
Usage, value, and opponent-adjusted context.
Opponent-adjusted passing value. Positive numbers mean the quarterback is adding more value through the air than a neutral peer would in the same environment.
How much of the offense runs through the quarterback once passing and rushing responsibility are blended together.
Every percentile is compared against players at the same position and level, so an FBS quarterback is judged against FBS quarterbacks, not the whole sport.
The top tables stick to the stats fans already know from broadcasts and box scores. Advanced context is pushed underneath instead of replacing the basics.
Open full stat explorer
| Group | Metric | Value | Rank | Pct | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Passing | Passing yards | 33 | #326/382 | 15th pct | Volumevs FBS QB |
| Passing | Pass TD | 0 | #285/407 | 30th pct | Scoringvs FBS QB |
| Passing | Completions | 4 | #310/383 | 19th pct | Volumevs FBS QB |
| Passing | Completion % | 80.0% | #26/383 | 93rd pct | Efficiencyvs FBS QB |
| Passing | Yards / attempt | 6.6 | #223/382 | 42nd pct | Efficiencyvs FBS QB |
| Rushing | Rushing yards | 28 | #223/408 | 46th pct | Volumevs FBS QB |
| Usage | Role share | 3.9% | #360/428 | 16th pct | Share of team offensevs FBS QB |
| Passing | Attempts | 5 | #326/407 | 20th pct | Volumevs FBS QB |
| Passing | Interceptions | 0 | #1/407 | 100th pct | Turnoversvs FBS QB |
| Rushing | Rushing LONG | 13 | #243/391 | 38th pct | Metricvs FBS QB |
| Rushing | Yards / carry | 5.6 | #76/407 | 82nd pct | Efficiencyvs FBS QB |
| Rushing | Carries | 5 | #304/408 | 26th pct | Volumevs FBS QB |
| Rushing | Rush TD | 0 | #230/408 | 44th pct | Scoringvs FBS QB |
| Usage | 3rd-down usage | 6.4% | #352/428 | 18th pct | Money-down loadvs FBS QB |
| Usage | Pass share | 4.5% | #351/428 | 18th pct | Air-game usagevs FBS QB |
| Usage | Passing-down usage | 4.4% | #364/428 | 15th pct | Known-passing sharevs FBS QB |
| Usage | 1st-down usage | 4.1% | #336/428 | 22nd pct | Early-down loadvs FBS QB |
| Usage | Standard-down usage | 3.7% | #355/428 | 17th pct | Base-situation sharevs FBS QB |
| Usage | Rush share | 3.5% | #315/428 | 27th pct | Ground-game usagevs FBS QB |
| Usage | 2nd-down usage | 2.4% | #380/428 | 11th pct | Middle-down loadvs FBS QB |
Player Standing
Universal 17-step ladder. Tier pills below; accolade streams nested.
AWAITING CLASSIFICATION
On-team2-deepStartingRecognizedEliteApex
AWAITING CLASSIFICATION · Rung None of 16
Why he’s here
Standing classification populates when honors, Heisman, and roster signals all align.
What moves him up
What moves him down
Accolade streams
Status—Awaiting tracker
Heisman model tracks the top FBS contenders weekly; this player hasn't entered the watch list yet.
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 4 games
Home vs Road
| YDS/g | TD/g | YPA | INT/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home3g | 11.0 | 0.0 | 6.6 | 0.0 |
| Road1g | — | — | — | — |
Win vs Loss
| YDS/g | TD/g | YPA | INT/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wins4g | 8.2 | 0.0 | 6.6 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| YDS/g | TD/g | YPA | INT/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-73g | 11.0 | 0.0 | 6.6 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+1g | — | — | — | — |
Pocket and defense-quality (clean vs. pressure) splits are coming soon.
Savant · Box-rate percentiles
Where this profile ranks vs the QB cohort
41Mid-pack
Elite: completion % (100th). Strength: interceptions (99th). Concern: pass tds (0th).
Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.
Advanced Savant · QB · 2024
Percentile Card
Advanced opponent-adjusted percentile bars are coming soon for this player.
P4G5All FBS
Advanced Savant
Opponent-adjusted advanced metrics with a cohort filter.
Advanced opponent-adjusted metrics are coming soon for this player. Selected cohort: P4.
Peer Comparator · Fingerprint match
Three closest profiles by box-rate percentile
McCae HillsteadBYUNick VattiatoMiddle Tennessee· 54% simDrake LindseyMinnesota· 52% simCade KlubnikClemson· 51% sim
Completion %
Interceptions
Rush yards
Yards / att
Rush TDs
Pass yards
Pass TDs
Closest peers by overall box-score percentile profile at the same position.
Supporting Cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Kalani Sitake
Pass share
43.5%
401 pass / 520 run
Plays / game
65.8
14 games
OL sack rate (allowed)
5.6%
270 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Coaching Lineage · 2023–2025
1 coach2023
Kalani Sitake
BYU
2025
Kalani Sitake
BYU
Played his entire career under Kalani Sitake.
Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster
Off-field context — switch tabs to drill into recruit profile, transfer arc, or roster timeline.
HometownLehi, UT
Height5'10"
Weight195 lb
Class2
PositionQB
Jersey3
No fields populated yet.
No fields populated yet.
Current teamBYU
ConferenceBig 12
Joined2025
Career arc3 season(s)
Trophy Case · Detail
Every honor on the ledger, broken out by stream and selector.
No formal honors on the ledger yet
All-America, all-conference, player-of-the-week, watch-list, and postseason awards land here when they're earned. The absence is the signal: most players never collect formal honors, and that's its own kind of context.
Honors Timeline
Season-end distinction and week-by-week recognition on one timeline.
| Season | Honor | Scope | Team / Selector | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No formal honors on the ledger yet. All-America, all-conference, weekly awards, watch lists, and postseason trophies land here when they’re earned. | ||||
Heisman By Year
Modeled rank and official finish by season.
| Season | Team | Role | Latest Model | Forecast | Win | Finalist | Official Finish | Points | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | BYU | QB2 | #423 | #273 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W16 snapshot | Big 12 |
| 2023 | Utah State | QB2 | #858 | #1037 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W19 snapshot | Mountain West |
Roster Timeline
Team, conference, and class by season.
| Season | Team | Conference | Pos | Class | Bio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | BYU | Big 12 | QB | 2 | No. 3 | 5-10 | 195 lb | Lehi, UT |
| 2024 | BYU | Big 12 | QB | 2 | No. 3 | 5-10 | 195 lb | Lehi, UT |
| 2023 | Utah State | Mountain West | QB | 2 | No. 3 | 5-10 | 195 lb | Lehi, UT |