Arizona Wildcats Set for Critical Big 12 Football Opener Against Utah Utes
The Arizona Wildcats had one luxury last weekend during their bye week — it gave them plenty of time to watch the first full weekend of Big 12 football.
The Wildcats (2-1) surely took a peek at their upcoming opponent, the No. 10 Utah Utes, who beat Oklahoma State in their Big 12 opener. It was a statement victory for the Utes (4-0, 1-0), who remain undefeated and in the eyes of many the best team in the conference.
The Wildcats have a chance to change that on Saturday when the two teams meet in Salt Lake City at 7:15 p.m. mountain time. The game will be broadcast on the ESPN.
Arizona has spent more than a week breaking down its own tape and in some cases its own team as the Wildcats try to figure out why they lost to Kansas State by 24 points.
Yes, there were warning signs going, most notably the Wildcats’ anemic offensive performance against Northern Arizona the week prior.
Last year the Wildcats dominated the Utes as they ran off seven straight wins to end the season. While Arizona has many key pieces back, this looks like a different team.
It's also a different Utah team. Regardless of whether it’s Cam Rising or Isaac Wilson, the Wildcats will be facing a different quarterback than last season. Arizona may not know which one until gametime.
The real fun begins for Arizona as they open up Big 12 play, the first of nine league games leading up to the Big 12 Championship game in Arlington, Texas, in December.
Here is a preview of the Wildcats and the Utes.
Arizona at No. 10 Utah
Rice-Eccles Stadium, Salt Lake City, Utah.
Time: 7:15 p.m. MT
TV: ESPN
Radio: KCUB 1290-AM (Flagship), KHYT 107.5-FM (sister station)
Coaches: Arizona — Brent Brennan (2-1 at Arizona, 36-49 career as head coach); Utah — Kyle Whittingham (166-79 at Utah, overall).
Fun fact: Before Utah joined the Pac-12 in 2011 the two schools had never been in the same conference. Both migrated to the Big 12 after the Pac-12 was unable to stay together under the strain of losing USC and UCLA to the Big Ten.
All-Times Series: Utah leads series, 25-20-2.
Last meeting: Arizona def. Utah, 42-18 (Nov. 18, 2023).
Series notes: Even though the two schools were never in the same conference before 2011, their series goes back to 1924, with Utah winning the first matchup, 32-7, in Salt Lake City. The only neutral site matchup was in the 1994 Freedom Bowl in Anaheim, Calif.
Last week: Arizona, idle; Utah def. Oklahoma State, 22-19.
About Utah: The Utes went into this season perhaps the most-Big 12 ready football program of the four new schools.
Utah won the Pac-12 championship game as recently as 2022 and had back an experienced quarterback in Cam Rising, who missed all of last season due to an injury after leading the Utes to that Pac-12 title.
Utah proved it was ready for the road rigors of the Big 12 last week against Oklahoma State, but it did it Without rising, who was still nursing a finger injury. Utah started its true freshman quarterback, Isaac Wilson, for the second straight game.
The younger brother of NFL quarterback Zach Wilson helped get Utah out to an early lead and then the Utes’ defense hung on to secure their first Big 12 win.
Now, the Utes return home to face a familiar opponent they’ve faced each year nearly every year since 2011.
About Arizona: Arizona has had more than a week to think about its first loss of the season, a 31-7 defeat against Kansas State in a rare non-conference game between conference opponents. The Wildcats just didn't play well.
In spite of an early Quali Conley touchdown, Kansas State answered and never looked back as Arizona's defense couldn’t stop the Kansas State offense.
There were some great individual performances for the Wildcats, most notably Tetairoa McMillan, their talented wide receiver. But going into the week much of the conversation will be about the availability of key players like running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt, who missed the Kansas State game due to potential eligibility issues. As of this writing, those issues had not been resolved.
Arizona has other backs to turn to. The Wildcats had plenty of other things to clean up during their bye week.
Next Up: Arizona hosts Texas Tech on Oct. 5. Utah will be off.
MATT POSTINS