BYU Football: 3 reasons Arizona could be a tough game

TUCSON, AZ - SEPTEMBER 01: Running back J.J. Taylor #21 of the Arizona Wildcats rushes the football during the college football game against the Brigham Young Cougars at Arizona Stadium on September 1, 2018 in Tucson, Arizona. The Cougars defeated the Wildcats 28-23. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
TUCSON, AZ - SEPTEMBER 01: Running back J.J. Taylor #21 of the Arizona Wildcats rushes the football during the college football game against the Brigham Young Cougars at Arizona Stadium on September 1, 2018 in Tucson, Arizona. The Cougars defeated the Wildcats 28-23. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
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Aug 29, 2019; Provo, UT, USA; Utah Utes wide receiver Jaylen Dixon (25) reaches for a touchdown against Brigham Young Cougars defensive back Dayan Ghanwoloku (5) in the third quarter at LaVell Edwards Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Swinger-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 29, 2019; Provo, UT, USA; Utah Utes wide receiver Jaylen Dixon (25) reaches for a touchdown against Brigham Young Cougars defensive back Dayan Ghanwoloku (5) in the third quarter at LaVell Edwards Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Swinger-USA TODAY Sports

Utah is Next Week

First off, how great is it that we can even say that the Utah game is next week? The coaches, players and administrators can all say that they aren’t thinking about Utah, but guess what, it is natural. Again, with almost no film or information to go off of in preparing for Arizona, I can see how it can be very tempting to get caught looking ahead. Last night alone, Samson Nacua was talking about Utah, not Arizona. While I don’t fault him individually for that, if the whole team is doing that, watch out!

While BYU has never played Utah in week two, we can look back at 2017 when the Cougars played LSU in week two. Yes, I know 2017 was a terrible year, but don’t tell me that BYU Football was only 13 points better than Portland State, or that the score would have been 20-7 if the Cougars were playing some other random team the next week. The Cougars were looking ahead and had Portland State been any good at all, they would have beaten BYU and you will never convince me otherwise.

Whether or not this ends up having a big impact on the team in 2021 is yet to be seen, but at the very least, it isn’t exactly helping BYU’s focus on Arizona.

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