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2 weeks Ago
Two weeks ago, Arizona went to then-No. 10 Utah and pulled off the upset. The Wildcats then followed that up with a disappointing home loss to Texas Tech, the latest in a string of for the program.
Now it’s back on the road to take on No. 14 BYU, which sits at 5-0 and 2-0 in the Big 12. The Cougars are Arizona’s third consecutive ranked road opponent this season.
How will the UA do in Provo? Our staff makes its predictions, and hopefully they’re a little more accurate this time. Is it Arizona that’s unpredictable, the Big 12, or both? Texas Tech was picked to finish ninth in the preseason poll. BYU was selected 13th.
Arizona’s last and next opponents sit atop the standings with perfect conference records. Meanwhile, the Wildcats were picked fifth but sit in a group of 1-1 teams that are fairly indistinguishable from each other. Arizona must take care of the ball better if it hopes to upset the Cougars.
BYU averages 6.2 points per game off turnovers. The Wildcats had two interceptions and two fumbles last week, although they recovered one of their giveaways.
Noah Fifita is now up to six interceptions this season while the defense has countered with four takeaways through the air. The team has put the ball on the turf five times, giving it away twice on fumbles. They have recovered three of their opponents’ four fumbles.
On the flip side, the Cougars have thrown five interceptions this year and lost one of its four fumbles. With a team like BYU that makes a living off turning the opponent over, Arizona needs to win this battle. It was a huge part of the upset win in Salt Lake City two weeks ago.
The problem for Arizona is the loss in the secondary. What is the defense going to look like without Treydan Stukes and Gunner Maldonado? The season is not lost even if the team loses this game. My projections had the Wildcats at 3-2 at this point, although which games fell into the 3 and which were part of the 2 weren’t accurate.
The bigger concern is consistency. That goes back to the “easy” games on the nonconference schedule. This will be the first time I go against my preseason projections, and consistency is precisely the reason why.
Which Arizona team shows up? I think this game comes down to the Wildcats not scoring enough points. Arizona’s offensive production in the red zone was the difference in the Wildcats’ loss to Texas Tech. BYU’s defense poses another tough challenge, one that I believe will be too much to overcome in a tough road environment.
The Cougars are allowing 15.8 points per game and have one of the Big 12’s top passes defenses. A few weeks ago they held Kansas State quarterback to just 15 of 28 passing and two interceptions.
The Cougars’ defense will be well-rested coming off a bye week, and BYU’s defensive minded head coach will have them well prepared. I expect BYU to win this game by two scores. If Arizona had played even a decent game against Texas Tech the Cats would have won by at least two scores.
Offensively they did everything other than score touchdowns (and avoid costly turnovers), while the defense continued to play well. Injuries in the secondary are a concern, but BYU isn’t exactly known for slinging the ball all over the field. The Cougars also don’t field a running QB, so I wouldn’t expect a particularly high scoring affair.
Let’s say Arizona’s offense with another week of experience plays its best game of the season and the Cats pull off another road upset over a ranked team. For no discernible reason, Arizona will win Saturday. I have this bizarre, nagging thought that the loss to Texas Tech will be somewhat of a wake-up call for everyone.
Again, the key will be the offense and how it performs. If the offense clicks, Arizona will wind. Noah Fifita, Tetairoa McMillan and the o-line have to snap out of whatever funk they are in.
Matt Adkins will have to call a better game and put his players in a position to succeed. And on Saturday, I think that happens. There is absolutely no reason for anyone to think that Arizona can have a chance against BYU, especially after the offensive performance last week.
Not so fast my friends. I think the offensive struggles end this week. has shouldered most of the blame for those struggles and I think he is a good enough quarterback to get back on track when his team really needs him to.
The defense has only gotten better as the season has progressed, going back to back games forcing multiple turnovers. It will take another multi-turnover game from them to keep momentum in a very good environment. This is also Fox’s “Big Noon Kickoff” game, and BYU has historically struggled during day games.
Arizona bounces back after a tough home loss, and the offense looks back to normal. It’s been a question all year, which Arizona team is going to show up. If the team that showed up to play at Utah shows up, UA will have a good shot to come away with a road win.
But if the continuation of not finishing in the red zone continues, UA could find themselves with another loss in the conference. The defense continues to show up and has given UA a shot to win every game but the injury bug has started to plague UA but it’s the next man up mentality. Very little about Arizona’s performance last week gives confidence that it can win on the road against an unbeaten opponent, especially when it struggled so much to finish drives and get into the end zone against a team that wasn’t known for its defense.
But then again, no one could have predicted that UA win at Utah coming off a blowout loss at Kansas State, so ...
While it would be a Arizona thing to suddenly look stellar again, the offensive inconsistency is too much of an issue to believe it can win this game solely with defense and kicker . The saving grace may be BYU’s recent history of not looking nearly as potent during the daytime as after dark, the so-called “BYU Vampire” phenomenon. This time, though, that’s only going to impact the margin of defeat.
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