The season is quickly heating up for BYU following a demolishing 63-7 victory against the inferior Utah Tech. This week's contest is the Cougars’ first conference matchup: Arizona. It's a team that is projected by many analysts to be very competitive in the Big 12. Cougars versus Wildcats, feline vs feline.
It certainly will not be a cake walk, and no opponent should be morally treated as such. However, BYU’s recent track record at home tells us they are a force to be reckoned with considering it did not lose a single game at LaVell Edwards Stadium last season and only dropped just one in 2024. As they look to keep collecting W’s in Provo, the Cougars will have some key factors from Arizona to keep an eye on from an eye test, statistical and roster talent perspective.
A roster breakdown
The Wildcats’ offense is led by fifth-year senior Noah Fifita at quarterback, who is 0-2 against BYU. He will be a challenge to contain for the Cougar front seven as he is known for making plays with his legs and is a solid improviser. Fifita is accurate and not prone to turnovers, so early pressure and keeping contain on passing downs will be the ideal focus in practice for the pass rushers.
The supporting cast surrounding the 5-foot-10 quarterback consists of slot receiver Giovanni Richardson and Tré Spivey and Chris Hunter III. The running back room remains an uncertainty with would be starter Ismail Mahdi being held out for the time being due to an eligibility dispute. If he is a no go, then Kedrick Reescano will continue to fill in with three other backs working together as a committee behind him.
Defensive personnel highlights linebackers Chase Kennedy and Taye Brown. All-Big 12 third teamer Jay’vion Cole is their star in the secondary looking to cover either Kyler Kasper or Jojo Phillips on the outside.
What does the eye test tell us?
Both sides only have one game worth of film to study each other from, but there is still enough there to see and prepare for. The Wildcats are coming off a steady 35-7 win over Northern Arizona, a significantly better FCS foe compared to who BYU drew. The Lumberjacks took home a 34-27 comeback win in their week zero game, which required them to comeback after going down 24-3 late in the second quarter versus Eastern Washington.
We probably should not expect a 63-point output from the Cougar attack based on how potent the Wildcat defense looked. It held Northern Arizona to zero points until late in the fourth quarter when the game was already put away. Yes, the Lumberjacks are an FCS school, but this is not something to simply gloss over.
Rest can be assured because BYU’s offense looked incredibly in sync last week. It answered some big questions surrounding its receiving core and their chemistry with quarterback Bear Bachmeier. In addition, the rushing attack confirmed to us how effective it will be in creating chunk plays to open up an already explosive passing repertoire.
On the offensive side, Fifita did Fifita things. He consistently eluded pressure and completed 75.4% of his passes both outside and inside the pocket. Aside from a careless fumble from Richardson and a brief dry spell in the third quarter, Arizona moved the chains to a tune of 520 total yards of offense, 314 passing yards and 206 rushing yards.
New defensive coordinator Kelly Poppinga will have to find ways to scheme against a lot of shotgun formations where Fifita will be in space to run play action passes and use his dual threat capabilities. Quite a few returning reinforcements on the Cougar defense have prior knowledge and experience against this offense which will ease some pressure off of Poppinga.
What do the stats say?
Since each team looks vastly different, especially the Wildcats, referencing last year’s stats feels a bit irrelevant to me. It’s only fair to use stats from week one.
Something that almost made my jaw drop was that Arizona allowed negative seven rushing yards on 21 attempts against Northern Arizona. What’s BYU’s strong suit? The run game. Part of that is the Lumberjacks lost 38 yards after giving up five sacks which is also notable. The Cougars have to win the battle in the trenches in order for the running game to not get neutralized and be too reliant on a still unproven receiving room.
Where Arizona can be beatable is the passing game. With the Wildcats allowing nearly 200 yards passing to an FCS opponent, BYU may have to open up the run game through the passing game instead of the other way around. It would be asinine to suggest abandoning the run because Northern Arizona could not run the ball efficiently. This game will be won or lost on how balanced of an attack the Cougars display.
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