University of Arizona football (3-2, 1-1 in Big 12) travels to Utah again to face No. 14 BYU (5-0, 2-0 in Big 12) on Oct. 12 at 1 p.m. Arizona’s first outing to Salt Lake City was stunning, as they pulled off a major upset win against then No. 10 University of Utah. This visit to Provo, Utah will be their first since 2007, and they’ll be looking to beat the Cougars for the first time since 1975.
BYU so far
The Cougars have started hot this season, as they cruised to five straight victories keeping them undefeated. They have pulled out some closer wins such as their 18-15 away win against Southern Methodist University and their 34-28 win at Baylor University.
However, on paper, the team is quite interesting in comparison to Arizona. This season, BYU has fewer rushing and passing yards than the Wildcats, with only 126 passing and 37 rushing yards separating the two teams. Despite these minor differences, you would imagine these teams would perform similarly, however, BYU has been effective when it comes to scoring and scoring from inside the red zone.
In their latest game against Baylor, BYU scored 3 touchdowns in 3 red zone drives in just the first half. Despite their hot start, they faltered in the second half, only having one red zone drive that ended in a field goal.
Their defense is a standout, but they are a top-15 team in the nation with it comes to the least amount of total offensive yards allowed in 1,463. BYU also is effective in preventing teams from scoring, only allowing an average of 15.8 points per game over Arizona’s 23.6.
Wildcats so far
The Wildcats are coming off of a brutal 28-22 loss against Texas Tech University. While BYU may be great at opening the game, Arizona is the opposite and brings games close near the end. This is seen especially in the Texas Tech game, in which Arizona went from being down 18-3 at half to having a 19-18 fourth quarter lead. Arizona has tended to wake up after the first half slump in almost every game so far this season, except the game at Utah where they dominated from start to finish.
Tetairoa McMillan also hasn’t scored a touchdown for the Wildcats since their first game of the season against the University of New Mexico, when he scored 4. McMillan has been crucial for Arizona in progressing towards the end zone, but for Arizona to establish dominance, the connection between quarterback Noah Fifita and McMillan needs to be found once again.
Arizona also needs to bring back the defense that played against Utah. In the game against Texas Tech, Tacario Davis recorded zero pass deflections compared to his five against Utah.
Keys to success
If Arizona wants to keep a very efficient BYU offense in check they will need to bring back the dominance they had in the Utah game and hold BYU to only a couple of red zone drives.
The offense needs to step up as well; Arizona has been inconsistent at converting in the red zone. If Arizona wants a chance to win, they need to do everything they can to find the end zone. While kicker Tyler Loop has been stunning hitting 5-6 in the Texas Tech game, Arizona will surely want to see more of McMillan and Conley in the end zone.
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