Arizona traveled to Provo after a loss at home to Texas Tech, where the offense was non-existent. To pull off the upset they would need to fix that, and for a bit the Wildcats did.
However, BYU’s maturity and physicality overwhelmed Arizona as it went on to rout the Wildcats 41-19.
Head coach Brent Brennan now finds himself with a .500 record halfway through his first season and an offense that is struggling mightily.
Here are our grades for the offense, defense, special teams, and coaching:
Offense: D
The offense was found again for about two, maybe three drives. It proceeded to be lost again, as an avalanche of mistakes hit them in the second half.
Arizona’s first drive was a nice showing as Noah Fifita hit Tetairoa McMillan on a 39-yard third down conversion, and then found Montana Lemonious-Craig on a 14-yard touchdown.
The next two drives went into BYU territory but ended in zero points. The second drive ended in an interception as Fifita was looking for Lemonious-Craig in the end zone.
The proceeding drive ended with a turnover on downs, as Quali Conley seemed to have reached for a 1st down, but after review was called short.
The second half got off to the worst start possible for the offense. On the first play, Fifita’s pass was tipped and picked off. The next drive ended with a Fifita fumble, his third turnover of the game at that point.
Conley scored the only touchdown for Arizona in the second half from one yard out in the fourth quarter.
Fifita would throw his third interception late in the fourth quarter, and it would be returned for a touchdown. He finished 26-52 for one touchdown but threw three interceptions going along with a fumble.
“Not even close to where I want to be individually, and we’re not even close to where we want to be offensively and that’s because of me,” Fifita said on the offensive struggles.
McMillan would finish with five catches for 78 yards. Kedrick Reescano finished the game as the leading rusher in yards with 48 on nine carries. Conley had 39 yards on 13 carries.
Defense: C-
Given the circumstances, the defense had a decent day. As if Arizona was not already short-handed on that side of the ball, the Wildcats would lose junior linebacker and team captain Jacob Manu to a targeting call.
The Wildcats would play the rest of the game without their three captains on defense.
They would finish the first drive with a fourth down stop, but would allow BYU to score on 6 of the next 8 drives.
Opportunities were missed, as Tacario Davis dropped a possible interception, and BYU would score a touchdown two plays later. The next drive, on a double pass from BYU, Marquis Groves-Killebrew took a bad angle on what could’ve been another interception.
However, Arizona did create a turnover as Genesis Smith forced a fumble which was recovered by Demetrius Freeney late in the fourth quarter.
The defense held BYU to 4 for 11 on third down, but allowed 398 total yards. Smith led the Wildcats with seven tackles.
Arizona would also lose Davis in the third quarter to an undisclosed injury.
Special teams: A+
Senior kicker Tyler Loop was back at it again, going two for two on his field goal attempts. One from 47 yards in the third quarter and one from 21 yards in the fourth.
All of his kickoffs resulted in touchbacks.
Punter Michael Salgado-Medina had 1 punt for 36 yards and was caught inside the 20.
Coaching: D-
Arizona’s main concern after the Texas Tech loss was being able to finish drives and be effective on offense. They showed signs in the first half, but found similar struggles in the second half.
“We all know that you’re not going to win in this league kicking field goals,” Brennan said. “We have to find a way to put ourselves in the best position to get first downs and score touchdowns.”
Seven of the offense’s 13 drives went into BYU territory, but only scored two touchdowns and two field goals.
The inability to finish drives in the end zone and taking care of the football have become Arizona’s worst enemy.
“You’re not going to come in here and beat a team like that when you don’t play clean and you don’t protect the football,” Brennan said.
The ability to stay healthy on defense has also hindered the Wildcats’ chances to put themselves in winning positions, and it only seems to be getting worse.
“I think injuries are making things a little bit tough on us right now,” Brennan said.
Arizona now heads back home to take on a Colorado Buffaloes team that has found a groove and is looking to maintain hopes for the Big-12 championship.
“We have a choice to make. We’re at the halftime of the football season, so what are we going to do about it?” Brennan said.