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BYU football's opponent this weekend is a total wild card. Which Arizona Wildcats are coming to Provo?

The Arizona Wildcats are a confusing mess of a football team, but they could take down BYU if they show up on Saturday.

By Calvin Barrett

Arizona Head Coach, Brent Brennan has an unpredictable team on his sideline.
Arizona Head Coach, Brent Brennan has an unpredictable team on his sideline. / Christian Petersen/GettyImages
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BYU's upcoming matchup against Arizona is giving me some anxiety, and it goes beyond the typical "when will BYU finally get exposed?" fear that strikes my heart every season.

The Wildcats haven't met expectations this season. After an encouraging 2023 that saw the Wildcats jump to a 10-3 final record and a third-place finish in the final year of the real Pac-12, hopes were high that the Cats would bear down another exciting year.

Yet, five games into this season, Brent Brennan's boys have been a mixed bag of overachievement and disappointment--much like a bag of bean-boozled jelly beans. When I dig my hand into the Wildcats' outcome pouch, am I going to snag an apple-flavored W or will I be cursed to come up with an L that tastes like a mix of boogers and vomit?

Disgusted yet? Just wait until the final whistle blows on Saturday night. That'll be the moment that Cougar fans will rest at last, or be subjected to a terrible agony.

Arizona v Utah
McMillan lines up against Utah in a game the Wildcats would win comfortably. / Chris Gardner/GettyImages

So why is Arizona so volatile? What makes this team so tough to predict? Well, like a gamma wave, this team's high-rising destiny is often violently interrupted by an enigmatic defeat. After falling victim to an early blowout against Kansas State, Noah Fifita and Tetairoa McMillan sliced up a Utah defense that once felt strong enough to carry a lackluster offense to the Big 12 championship. The following week, Arizona dropped a home game against Texas Tech.

A team capable of shutting down the Utes, but also lost big to a team the Cougars already blew out? What kind of trickery is this?

Simple math would project the Cougars to win this game big. With the Wildcats' 7-31 deficit against Kansas State, and the (other) Wildcats' 38-9 gap to BYU, the transitive property suggests that Kalani Sitake and his crew are in for a 53-point victory. Unfortunately, that's not how football works, but you follow my thought process, right?

In the Pac-12 defector's favor are two offensive superweapons in Fifita and McMillan, a QB-WR duo that could snatch the soul out of an opposing defense--even one as tough as Jay Hill's unit. If these two catch fire in Provo, it wouldn't take long before this game gets out of reach.

Sam Dawe, Aisea Moa
The BYU Cougars run onto the field for the season opener against Southern Illinois. / Chris Gardner/GettyImages

In the Cougars' favor, however, is the elite home-field advantage of LaVell Edwards Stadium, which will be this matchup's venue. Kansas State fans undersold the impact a road crowd could have on an offense, and that team was greeted with a sucker punch on gameday. A strong defense and solid play from starting QB, Jake Retzlaff will complement the Provo atmosphere on gameday, and on paper should be enough to earn a victory at the close of this contest.

But Arizona is no stranger to winning in the Beehive State, and they'll get up for this game against the Cougars. Nothing can be guaranteed for this upcoming game, and the biggest question surrounding the BYU football team is clear.

Which Arizona Wildcats will play on Saturday?

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