Cougs Daily

No. 14 BYU Handles Arizona, Remains Unbeaten

Casey Lundquist

BYU linebacker Aisea Moa pressures Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita as BYU takes down the Wildcats 41-19
BYU linebacker Aisea Moa pressures Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita as BYU takes down the Wildcats 41-19 / BYU Photo
In this story:

For the first time as a member of the Big 12, Kalani Sitake and the BYU football program are bowl bound. And BYU only needed six games to meet the six-win bowl requirement. The no. 14 Cougars are 6-0 after a convincing 41-19 win over Arizona.

Like they have so many times this season, BYU played well in all three phases on their way to a win. Arizona got off to a quick start. After BYU drove 70 yards down to the Arizona five yard-line on the opening drive, a turnover on downs gave the ball to Arizona. The Wildcats used their dangerous passing attack to march 95 yards to take a 7-0 lead.

On the ensuing drive, the BYU offense answered with a 10 play, 75-yard drive to tie the game at 7-7. On that drive, BYU got a critical fourth down conversion from LJ Martin to keep the drive alive. The next play, Jake Retzlaff threw a great ball to Parker Kingston who made an even better catch for the score.

Arizona got the ball back and waisted no time getting back into BYU territory. On 3rd & 7 from the BYU 28, Tanner Wall intercepted Noah Fifita at the goal line and gave the ball back to the BYU offense on the one yard-line.

BYU's offense put together the longest drive of the season, going 99 yards on only 7 plays to take a 14-7 lead. The drive was capped off with a trick play - a double pass from Parker Kingston to LJ Martin.

BYU took a 14-7 lead into halftime.

The BYU defense waisted no time at the start of the second half. The first play of the second half featured an interception by Jakob Robinson. Robinson came off the edge on a blitz, jumped into the passing lane, and intercepted the pass to give the ball back to the BYU offense.

BYU capitalized on the next play - Jake Retzlaff found Chase Roberts from nine yards out for the score. BYU led 21-7 10 seconds into the second half.

On the second play of the ensuing drive, Isaiah Glasker came off the edge and strip-sacked Noah Fifita. Harrison Taggart recovered and suddenly BYU was in position to take control of the game. This time around, BYU's offense settled for a field goal to take a 24-7 lead.

After exchanging field goals on back-to-back-to-back drives, BYU led 27-13 with 9:02 remaining.

To their credit, BYU's offense didn't take their foot off the pedal. On the first play of the next drive, Jake Retzlaff found Darius Lassiter for a 38-yard gain. Then LJ Martin took over, putting BYU in scoring position before scoring from one yard out. That put the game out of reach at 34-13 with 5:38 remaining. Having LJ Martin healthy made a big difference when it came to maintaining a lead and moving the chains.

The game was capped off by a pick-six from Isaiah Glasker. Glasker, who was all over the field on Saturday afternoon, intercepted Noah Fifita and took it back for the score.

With the win convincing win, BYU makes the case to move up in the rankings once again. BYU is now 6-0 against the spread this season.

Published |Modified
Casey Lundquist
CASEY LUNDQUIST

Casey Lundquist is the publisher and lead editor of Cougs Daily. He has covered BYU athletics for the last four years. During that time, he has published over 2,000 stories that have reached more than three million people.

Home/Football