After cruising past NAU in the season-opener, Brent Brennan and Co. have a much taller task ahead of them in Provo on Saturday. The Cougars – alongside the ASU Sun Devils and the Kansas State Wildcats – are one of just three teams the Wildcats will face in each of their three first seasons in the Big 12, becoming a familiar opponent and fun rivalry since the UA’s move to the conference. The Cougs have gotten the better of the Cats in both of the previous two matches, but the UA, led by signal-caller Noah Fifita, hopes to break the streak. Check out our 2026 Preview & Predictions as Arizona gears up for an early season road test at No. 15 BYU.
Offense:
The season-opener was an encouraging start to the 2026 season. Noah Fifita was a crisp 22-of-29 passing, throwing for 262 yards and two touchdowns. He went 17-of-20 in the first half, completing 13 passes in a row, as the veteran quarterback picked apart the Lumberjacks’ defense. Now, BYU presents a much tougher challenge than NAU, but there are some things offensive coordinator Seth Doege can replicate on Saturday.
The first is get the ball out of Noah’s hands quick. Fifita completed 16-of-17 passes that were no deeper than five yards. The offensive line is one of the best it’s been in years – the starters allowed just one sack on Fifita and were called for one false start on a play merely designed to get NAU to jump offsides. While the offense was very vanilla in the season-opener, look for Fifita to get the ball out quick and distribute it all over the field.
Second, ball security must be a top priority on Saturday. We don’t need to discuss the Sawyer Anderson pick-six. It happened – on his first ever collegiate snap – and he responded nicely. The two fumbles by Giovanni Richardson and Antwan Roberts Jr. however are mistakes that can’t happen against BYU. It’s something that Brennan and Doege have been focused on all week.
“Now, when he was running with the football did it get loose and did he have the back door open? Absolutely,” said Doege discussing Richardson’s first-half fumble. “That’s why we rep it. It affirms the drill you do every day and why I’m constantly on them. Sometimes they get tired of hearing me and it’s almost boring, but it matters. It’s probably the most important drill we do every day.”
BYU will likely be one of the toughest defensive opponents Arizona faces all season, so the Wildcats will really need to key in on a few standout players. Linebacker Cade Uluave, who transferred from Cal in the offseason, plays exactly how you would expect the top-rated linebacker in the transfer portal this year to play. Period. After missing the game against Utah Tech, BYU will also have Isaiah Glasker back at linebacker. The savvy veteran is an anchor for the Cougars’ defense, finishing last season with 67 tackles, three sacks, a forced fumble, and two interceptions.
Fifita struggled at times last week in the second half – relative to his uber-efficient first half – when NAU brought pressure and sped him up. BYU will certainly try to the same, adding further importance to the offensive line play and his ability to get the ball out quick.
Arizona also needs to keep tabs on junior safety Faletau Satuala at all times. The Cougars’ leading tackler from a season ago has a similar game to any of the Wildcats’ big three – Treydan Stukes, Dalton Johnson, and Genesis Smith – from a season ago. He had 84 tackles, four pass deflections, three interceptions, include a pick-six, two forced fumbles, and a sack in 2025 and should only be better with another year of experience.
If Arizona can get the ball out quick, protect Noah Fifita, and limit the self-inflicted wounds by taking care of the football, it has the offensive firepower to go toe-to-toe with BYU.
Defense:
“That’s Danny speaking for Danny,” said head coach Brent Brennan on Monday about the idea that BYU game prep started over the summer.
“I want to make something really clear – because I stated about the game planning (for BYU) starting January 4,” added defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales. “I am a football nerd, junkie, whatever you want to call it. And I agree with Coach B. That was me speaking for me.”
Despite what any of the coaching staff says, this one has been circled on the calendar since the day the schedule was released.
Against a physical, athletic quarterback in Bear Bachmeier, as well as PFF’s top-rated offensive line last week, the defensive front seven will need to be in mid-season form in week two. Fortunately for the Wildcats, the linebackers already appear to be. Linebackers Taye Brown (11), Cooper Blomstrom (8), and Chase Kennedy (5) combined for 24 of Arizona’s 65 total tackles. That’s 36.9 percent of the total tackles between just three players.
They disrupted Ty Pennington with five sacks, the most since the 2025 season opener against Hawaii, and added another four quarterback hurries, never allowing the Lumberjacks’ quarterback to settle into the game. Bachmeier has a much stronger frame and won’t be nearly as easy to drag down, but if the Wildcats have any hope of upsetting the Cougars on the road, it will be by not allowing the sophomore quarterback to get into a rhythm.
That defensive pressure will also be important for the secondary, which is entirely new outside of Jay’Vion Cole. The back five missed a handful of tackles in the first half – most teams across college football had issues tackling in Week 1 due to the lack of love tackling in fall camp, so not trying to over-index on this – and needed the first quarter or so to settle in, allowing Pennington to complete his first eight passes of the game.
Offensively for BYU, Arizona needs to key in on Bear Bachmeier’s ability to run the football. Last season, the Cougars’ signal-caller rushed for 89 yards and two touchdowns as part of the 2OT heartbreaker in Tucson. But the coaching staff, shoot everyone who watched a quarter of Arizona football last season, knows that. So who else?
Freshman Legend Glasker dazzled in his collegiate debut. The first-year wide receiver finished with 81 scrimmage yards, including 65 through the air, as well as three touchdowns, earning Big 12 Freshman of the Week.
And of course, the entire offense goes as running back LJ Martin, the reigning Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year, goes. Martin only carried the ball seven times for 54 yards last week and should be very fresh for the early conference showdown. In the 2OT contest in Tucson last season, Martin rushed for 162 yards (a career-high at the time) and a touchdown, averaging 6.5 yards per carry. Despite the small sample size, it appears as though the defense is better up front than a year ago, but if Martin and Bachmeier get going like they did a year ago, it could be a long afternoon for the Wildcats.
Special Teams:
Michael Salgado-Medina has yet to attempt a field goal this season – Arizona found the end zone on all four trips to the red zone last week – but could see his number called often if the BYU defense is as advertised. He doesn’t need to rattle off four kicks from 50+ yards out, but if he can tune out what is sure to be one of the most hostile environments the Wildcats will play in this season, he will have done his job.
Arizona punter Chase Ridley could be a difference maker in this game. If Arizona’s offense has any difficulty moving the ball, look for Brennan and Craig Naivar to lean towards punting over long field goals. The staff would much rather pin BYU deep inside its own 10-to-15 yard line and make it a defense battle, rather than give the Cougars a short field with a missed field goal or turnover on downs.
The Wildcats will need to make sure they locked into BYU returner Cannon DeVries, who, between two punts a kickoff return, netted 173 all-purpose yards and a touchdown. It will be the second week in a row Arizona has faced a returner coming off a game in which they returned a kickoff for a touchdown.
Score Prediction:
This game has potential to be one of games of the year in the Big 12. It’s going to be a warm, sunny day in Provo – something Danny Gonzales and the other coaches will tell you they love – and LaVell Edwards Stadium should be in full force. Arizona knows what it needs to do: take care of the football, pressure Bear Bachmeier, and don’t allow LJ Martin to have another career day. Easy right?
I think the 7.5-point spread in favor of the Cougars is too big, but ultimately, BYU is just a little more polished than Arizona. That, combined with 62,000 BYU fans hopped up on CougarTails and the BYU Creamery, means the Wildcats will need to play flawless football to get out to a 2-0 start to the season. If I were a betting man, I’d take Arizona at +7.5, but ultimately have the Wildcats losing 27-24.