Arizona Wildcats Three Keys to Success to Defeat BYU Cougars
The Arizona Wildcats will try to snap a three-game losing streak against the BYU Cougars when the two teams square off on Saturday in Provo, Utah.
That streak dates back to 2016.
The one-time conference mates are reunited for a 1 p.m. mountain time start and a contest that will get the Fox treatment as the main game in the afternoon and host the Big Noon Kickoff show.
The Wildcats (3-2, 1-1 in Big 12) are coming off a demoralizing loss to the Texas Tech Red Raiders, one that saw them claw their way back into the game and take the lead, only to lose the lead in the fourth quarter.
The Cougars (5-0, 2-0) are coming out of a bye week and are one of five Big 12 teams that don’t have a loss in league play. BYU is also one of two overall undefeated teams in the league, along with Iowa State.
Here are three keys to success for the Wildcats as they face the Cougars.
Find the End Zone
The Wildcats are officially having trouble getting into the end zone.
Go back to their loss against Kansas State three weeks ago. The Wildcats scored just one touchdown in that game.
Look back at the Utah victory two weeks ago and you'll see an offense that managed to score just two touchdowns.
Last week against Texas Tech, the Wildcats were only able to score one touchdown. Yes, place-kicker Tyler Loop had a career game, kicking five field goals and winning Big 12 special teams player of the week. But five field goals and a touchdown is unlikely to win you many football games.
The Wildcats need to figure out why they can't get in the end zone consistently and fix it.
Easier said than done.
Stuff the Run
This is going to be an important part of this game for Arizona. On paper, the Cougars don't look like a particularly strong running team. In fact, their quarterback, Jake Retzlaff, is their leading rusher after five games. But even he has fewer than 200 rushing yards for the season.
But there's a caveat. The Cougars have been playing without two of their better running backs, LJ Martin and Hinckley Ropati, for the past few weeks due to injury. It looks like BYU will be getting both of them back this week. That will put the Cougars’ running game back at full strength and put the impetus on the Wildcat defense to slow it down and force the Cougars to be a bit more one-dimensional.
Get McMillan in Position
This goes back to the offense and getting in the end zone. While Tetairoa McMillan is having a tremendous season, he hasn’t scored a touchdown since his off-the-charts season debut in Week 1. He scored four touchdowns in that game.
Now, he’s still hard to stop. Last week he caught eight passes for 161 yards against Texas Tech. He has 37 receptions for 664 yards and four touchdowns this season.
How a wide receiver some have billed as an “athletic freak” isn’t scoring more is a mystery. But it’s one the Wildcats need to solve.
