Turnovers Doom Arizona Wildcats in Loss to BYU Cougars
Buried by an exceptional BYU defense and their own mistakes, the Arizona Wildcats fell to the No. 14 Cougars, 41-19 on Saturday at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah.
Arizona (3-3, 1-2 in Big 12) lost its second straight Big 12 game in a contest where, once again, the Wildcats’ mistakes were their undoing. Arizona committed four turnovers and the Cougars turned those into 24 points.
The Wildcats were without defensive backs Treydan Stukes and Gunner Maldonado due to injuries. Arizona lost top linebacker Jacob Manu to a targeting call early in the game. Now Arizona has significant questions across the board going into next week’s homecoming game with Colorado.
Quarterback Noah Fifita threw for 262 yards with a touchdown and three interceptions, along with a lost fumble. His last interception was picked off by BYU's Isaiah Glasker and returned for a touchdown with 1:02 left.
Wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan caught five passes for 78 yards, while Montana Lemonious-Craig caught the Wildcats’ only touchdown. Running back Quali Conley had 39 yards and a touchdown on the ground. His score came in the game’s final three minutes.
Arizona, down 34-19, forced a turnover with 2:37 left, as Genesis Smith punched the football out from BYU running back Hinckley Ropati. But Arizona lost possession on downs.
BYU (6-0, 3-0) reached bowl eligibility after a one-year absence in their second year in the Big 12. The Cougars also maintained a share of the lead in the conference standings.
Quarterback Jake Retzlaff threw for 218 yards and two touchdowns. Ropati and L.J. Martin combined for more than 100 rushing yards in their return from injury. Wide receiver Chase Roberts was one of three Cougars to catch a touchdown pass.
This was their first meeting since a 24-16 win over Arizona in 2021. It was their first meeting as conference rivals since 1977, when both schools were in the WAC.
The game boiled down to Arizona’s mistakes, including two critical, back-to-back turnovers by Fifita that helped give BYU a 24-7 lead.
On the first play of the second half, Fifita rolled to his right and tried to throw a screen pass into the flat. BYU’s Jackob Robinson tipped the pass, picked it off and set up the Cougars’ offense inside the Wildcats’ 10-yard-line. Retzlaff connected with Roberts on the first play of the drive for a touchdown.
On the next drive, Arizona got in two plays before Fifita fumbled. He tried to evade a blitz by Glasker, but he jarred the ball loose and the Cougars’ Harrison Taggart recovered the ball at the Wildcat 15-yard line. BYU turned it into a 33-yard field goal by Will Ferrin.
The Wildcats attempted to get back into the game, but two potential scoring drives only led to Tyler Loop field goals, the second of which made it a 27-13 BYU lead with 9:02 left in the fourth quarter.
BYU shut the door after that with a long drive, capped by Martin’s 1-yard touchdown run.
In the first half, the Wildcats had a 7-0 lead after a long drive that wrapped up with a 14-yard touchdown pass from Fifita to Lemonious-Craig with 3:27 left in the first quarter.
BYU answered to tie the game when Retzlaff threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Parker Kingston with 13:35 left in the second quarter. On the next drive, Fifita drove the Wildcats all the way to the Cougars’ 28-yard line and then threw an interception to BYU’s Tanner Wall near the goal line.
The Cougars drove the length of the field and took the lead on an impressive double pass trick play. Retzlaff threw to Kingston, who scored the earlier touchdown, and the left-handed receiver threw a touchdown pass across the field to Martin with 6:30 left in the first half, pushing BYU ahead, 14-7.
