The Arizona Wildcats are back on the road this week to face the 14th-ranked BYU Cougars. Here's a look at starting lineups, key matchups and a prediction from Star reporter Justin Spears.
Arizona (3-2) at No. 14 BYU (5-0)
When: Saturday, 1 p.m.
Where: LaVell Edwards Stadium
Watch: Fox/11
Radio: 1290-AM, 107.5-FM
Arizona Wildcats
Record: 3-2 (1-1 Big 12)
WHEN ARIZONA IS ON OFFENSE (PROJECTED):
[Pos. | No. | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Yr.]
XWR | 4 | Tetairoa McMillan | 6-5 | 212 | Jr.
FWR | 2 | Jeremiah Patterson | 5-10 | 175 | Jr.
LT | 59 | Rhino Tapa'atoutai | 6-5 | 311 | R-Fr.
LG | 72 | Wendell Moe | 6-2 | 339 | R-So.
C | 75 | Josh Baker | 6-3 | 300 | Sr.
RG | 60 | Alexander Doost | 6-7 | 332 | R-Fr.
RT | 71 | Jonah Savaiinaea | 6-5 | 336 | Jr.
TE | 88 | Keyan Burnett | 6-6 | 248 | Jr.
ZWR | 5 | Montana Lemonious-Craig | 6-2 | 194 | Sr.
QB | 11 | Noah Fifita | 5-10 | 188 | R-So.
RB | 7 | Quali Conley | 5-10 | 209 | Sr.
WHEN ARIZONA IS ON DEFENSE (PROJECTED):
[Pos. | No. | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Yr.]
DE | 11 | Chase Kennedy | 6-3 | 220 | R-So.
DT | 46 | Ta'ita'i Uiagalelei | 6-4 | 280 | Jr.
NT | 47 | Stanley Ta'ufo'ou | 6-2 | 274 | R-Sr.
DE | 3 | Tre Smith | 6-5 | 270 | R-Jr.
MLB | 5 | Jacob Manu | 5-11 | 228 | Jr.
WLB | 6 | Taye Brown | 6-2 | 225 | So.
STAR | 27 | Owen Goss | 6-2 | 202 | Sr.
CB | 23 | Emmanuel Karnley | 6-3 | 184 | R-Fr.
CB | 1 | Tacario Davis | 6-4 | 190 | Jr.
BS | 43 | Dalton Johnson | 5-11 | 202 | R-Jr.
FS | 12 | Genesis Smith | 6-2 | 203 | So.
Arizona tight end Keyan Burnett (88) looks up field for room to run after making a catch over the middle against Texas Tech in the third quarter.
UA 2024 SCHEDULE
August
31 | NEW MEXICO | W, 61-39
September
7 | NORTHERN ARIZONA | W, 22-10
13 | at No. 14 Kansas State | L, 31-7
28 | at No. 10 Utah | W, 23-10
October
5 | TEXAS TECH | L, 28-22
12 | at No. 14 BYU
19 | COLORADO (Homecoming)
26 | W. VIRGINIA (Family Weekend)
November
2 | at UCF
15 | HOUSTON*
23 | at TCU
30 | ASU (Senior Day)
Home games in BOLD; *=Friday game
UA 2024 STATS
PASSING
[Name | Comp-Att-INT | Yards | TDs | Long]
Fifita | 110-179-6 | 1,361 | 7 | 78
RUSHING
[Name | Carries | Yards | TDs | Per carry | Per game]
Conley | 69 | 419 | 5 | 6.1 | 83.8
Reescano | 26 | 167 | 1 | 6.4 | 33.4
Croskey-Merritt | 13 | 106 | 1 | 8.2 | 106.0
Fifita | 13 | 17 | 0 | 1.1 | 3.4
Riley | 1 | 15 | 0 | 15.0 | 5.0
RECEIVING
[Name | Receptions | Yards | TDs | Per catch | Per game]
McMillan | 37 | 664 | 4 | 17.9 | 132.3
Burnett | 13 | 171 | 1 | 13.2 | 34.2
Lemonious-Craig | 12 | 129 | 0 | 10.7 | 25.8
Conley | 18 | 122 | 0 | 6.8 | 24.4
Hyatt | 3 | 77 | 0 | 25.7 | 15.4
DEFENSE
[Name | Tackles | Sacks | INTs | FR | FF]
Manu | 41 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0
Brown | 34 | 2.0 | 0 | 1 | 0
Johnson | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1
Smith, T. | 24 | 1.5 | 0 | 0 | 1
Davis | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0
Stukes | 18 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0
Smith, G. | 17 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0
BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff looks to throw a pass in the first half against Baylor on Sept. 28 in Waco, Texas.
BYU Cougars
Record: 5-0 (2-0 Big 12)
WHEN BYU IS ON OFFENSE (PROJECTED):
[Pos. | No. | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Yr.]
WR | 2 | Chase Roberts | 6-4 | 210 | R-Jr.
TE | 1 | Keanu Hill | 6-4 | 240 | R-Sr.
LT | 76 | Caleb Etienne | 6-8 | 320 | R-Sr.
LG | 61 | Weylin Lapuaho | 6-4 | 305 | Jr.
C | 51 | Sonny Makasini | 6-4 | 315 | R-So.
RG | 63 | Bruce Mitchell | 6-4 | 300 | R-So.
RT | 64 | Brayden Keim | 6-9 | 315 | R-Jr.
WR | 17 | Keelan Marion | 6-0 | 195 | R-Jr.
WR | 5 | Darius Lassiter | 6-2 | 210 | R-Sr.
QB | 12 | Jake Retzlaff | 6-1 | 205 | R-Jr.
RB | 27 | LJ Martin | 6-2 | 225 | So.
WHEN BYU IS ON DEFENSE (PROJECTED):
[Pos. | No. | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Yr.]
DE | 92 | Tyler Batty | 6-5 | 275 | Sr.
DT | 93 | Blake Mangelson | 6-5 | 275 | Sr.
NT | 94 | John Nelson | 6-4 | 290 | Sr.
DE | 59 | Logan Lutui | 6-2 | 255 | R-Sr.
SLB | 16 | Isaiah Glasker | 6-5 | 235 | R-So.
MLB | 11 | Harrison Taggart | 6-1 | 235 | R-So.
RLB | 17 | Jack Kelly | 6-2 | 240 | R-Jr.
CB | 2 | Marquee Collins | 5-11 | 175 | R-Sr.
SS | 7 | Crew Wakley | 6-0 | 200 | R-Jr.
FS | 28 | Tanner Hall | 6-1 | 200 | R-Jr.
CB | 0 | Jakob Robinson | 5-11 | 170 | Sr.
BYU cornerback Marque Collins, center, breaks up a pass intended for SMU wide receiver Key'Shawn Smith, left, during the first half of their game Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, in Dallas.
BYU 2024 SCHEDULE
August
31 | SOUTHERN ILLINOIS | W, 41-13
September
6 | at SMU | W, 18-15
14 | at Wyoming | W, 34-14
21 | No. 13 KANSAS STATE | W, 38-9
28 | at Baylor | W, 34-28
October
12 | ARIZONA
18 | OKLAHOMA STATE*
26 | at UCF
November
9 | at No. 16 Utah
23 | at Arizona State
30 | HOUSTON
Home games in BOLD; *=Friday game
BYU 2024 STATS
PASSING
[Name | Comp-Att-INT | Yards | TDs | Long]
Retzlaf | 90-147-5 | 1,208 | 12 | 57
Bohanon | 3-3-0 | 27 | 0 | 14
RUSHING
[Name | Carries | Yards | TDs | Per carry | Per game]
Retzlaf | 34 | 156 | 1 | 4.6 | 31.2
Nawahine | 29 | 98 | 1 | 3.4 | 24.5
Moa | 21 | 93 | 1 | 4.4 | 23.3
Ropati | 21 | 89 | 1 | 4.2 | 44.5
Martin | 18 | 87 | 1 | 4.8 | 43.5
RECEIVING
[Name | Receptions | Yards | TDs | Per catch | Per game]
Roberts | 21 | 336 | 2 | 16.0 | 67.2
Lassiter | 16 | 235 | 3 | 14.7 | 58.8
Marion | 8 | 122 | 0 | 15.3 | 24.4
Phillips | 5 | 93 | 1 | 18.6 | 18.6
Hill | 7 | 71 | 1 | 10.1 | 14.2
DEFENSE
[Name | Tackles | Sacks | INTs | FR | FF]
Taggart | 25 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1
Kelly | 20 | 3.0 | 0 | 1 | 1
Glasker | 19 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0
Robinson | 19 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1
Wakley | 19 | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0
Batty | 18 | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0
Mangelson | 17 | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 1
Head to Head
Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita celebrates with fans after the Wildcats' 23-10 victory over then-No. 10 Utah on Saturday in Salt Lake City.
11 Noah Fifita vs. 11 Harrison Taggart
Last week wasn't the sharpest performance for Arizona's quarterback, who completed a career-low 57% of his passes against Texas Tech. It was also the first time Fifita threw multiple interceptions in his UA career, though he's now thrown a pick in seven straight games going back to last season. Fifita and the Arizona offense could avoid third-and-long situations by using short passes — some in the middle of the field — and runs on first and second down.
Taggart, a Draper, Utah native, originally signed with Oregon over the hometown Cougars and Arizona as a four-star prospect in 2022, but transferred to BYU last season. In his second season in Provo, Taggart leads the Cougars' with 25 tackles to go with one interception and one forced fumble. The linebacker left the Cougars' 34-28 win over Baylor with an injury, but is expected to play on Saturday.
Arizona’s Dalton Johnson (43) snares Texas Tech wide receiver Brady Boyd (13) after Boyd’s catch out wide in the third quarter of the teams’ Oct. 5 Big 12 matchup in Tucson.
43 Dalton Johnson vs. 27 LJ Martin
With defensive backs Treydan Stukes and Gunner Maldonado out with leg injuries, Johnson and cornerback Tacario Davis are the only UA starters from last year's secondary. Since Johnson was sidelined with an injury at Kansas State, the box safety produced back-to-back eight-tackle games and forced a fumble against Texas Tech.
Martin is BYU's fifth-leading rusher this season, but he's been injured for over a month. Martin is expected to play his first game since suffering an injury against SMU in September. The Cougars' leading rusher is their quarterback Jake Retzlaff, but that could change on Saturday with a healthier running backs room.
The matchup
When Arizona has the ball …
On paper, Arizona should've handled Texas Tech in Tucson. They out-gained the Red Raiders and dominated time of possession. However, the Wildcats were unable to consistently find the end zone and had one touchdown in 10 drives in TTU territory. Arizona's defense and kicker Tyler Loop can only give the offense so many opportunities. If Arizona controls time of possession, distributes the ball to other playmakers besides wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan and scores touchdowns when it's within striking distance, they could leave Provo victorious.
When BYU has the ball …
The Cougars are a bottom-half rushing team in the Big 12, averaging 138.8 yards per game, but they are third in the conference in time of possession, averaging just over 32 minutes per game. BYU doesn't have a workhorse running back, but it has enough running backs to suffocate defenses.
Prediction: Arizona 30, No. 14 BYU 27
Arizona's defense is trending in the right direction, especially the containment on the edge. The Wildcats have forced four combined takeaways in the last two games. If Arizona's offense can convert those extra possessions into points, stay ahead and force BYU to become a one-dimensional offense and pass late in the second half, the Wildcats could be in a position to pull off another win over a ranked opponent in Utah. Although Arizona is a wildcard, the Wildcats were road warriors under pressure in Salt Lake City. They do it again in Provo.
