5 takeaways from Arizona football’s 33-27 double-overtime loss to BYU | Michael Lev

It was a game that Arizona football easily could have won.

It was also the type of game that last year’s Wildcats would have lost badly.

Down two scores early, Arizona rallied back against No. 18 BYU, only to fall in double overtime, 33-27, in a draining, entertaining, weather-delayed contest Saturday night at Arizona Stadium.

The game featured wild momentum swings, controversial decisions and a failure on Arizona’s part to execute in key moments.

Here are my top five takeaways from a stinging defeat that leaves the Wildcats at 4-2 at the halfway point of the season.

1. Net positive

The way the game unfolded left UA fans furious. The Wildcats had a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter and let it slip away. Brent Brennan made some decisions that had a lot of us scratching our heads. I’ll get to all of it. Promise.

In the meantime, I would argue that Saturday’s game was actually a net positive. Arizona exhibited character and mettle that it rarely showed last season.

BYU had a 14-0 lead less than 10 minutes into the game. The Cougars were running the ball down the Wildcats’ throats — then hit them with a big pass play for a touchdown. Arizona was in deep trouble.

Then the Wildcats responded, again and again. They scored. They weathered the weather delay. They made critical stops. They took the lead.

“We just battled the first-place team in the Big 12 for four quarters and two overtimes, and we never backed down,” Brennan said afterward. “Now, we didn’t get the result we wanted, but those kids played their hearts out, and that is something to be excited about.

“The goal is to win, and I understand that. But we’re a better football team. ... We have a lot to work on, but we also have a lot to feel good about.”

Arizona lost 41-19 to BYU last year. The Cougars bludgeoned the Wildcats in that game. It was one of six losses by at least 21 points.

This wasn’t that. This was a display of mental toughness.

Arizona just didn’t execute when — and where — it needed to. And the coaching staff didn’t put the players in the optimal position to succeed.

2. Divisive decisions

Every fourth-down call that a head coach makes is going to be scrutinized. Typically — and incorrectly — the result dictates the reaction.

“If you get it, everyone’s like, ‘Yay!’” Brennan said. “If you don’t, everyone’s like, ‘What are you doing?’”

Coming out of last season, we all wanted Brennan to be more aggressive in those situations. Overall, he has been. Arizona has gone for it on fourth down 15 times. The Wildcats went for it just 18 times all of last year.

If you look at Brennan’s fourth-down decision in the third quarter through that lens, it’s justifiable. It was the opening possession of the second half. Arizona faced fourth-and-4 at the BYU 5. The Wildcats were moving the ball.

Before Brennan made the call to go for it, I told colleagues in the press box that I would kick the field goal. It would have been a disappointing ending to a seven-plus-minute drive, but it would bump Arizona’s lead to six points. And it would beat the alternative if the Wildcats didn’t make it — an empty possession and a shift in momentum.

Arizona didn’t make it. You could argue that the three points the Wildcats lost ended up costing them the game — although the Cougars would have played things differently if they were down 13 instead of 10 in the fourth quarter. For example, they wouldn’t have kicked a field goal from the UA 6 with less than 4:30 left in regulation.

Brennan’s intent was good in that spot. If he wants to take a play-to-win approach in situations like that, no one would quibble with it.

But if you’re going to be that guy, be that guy all the time. Brennan’s decision at the end of regulation sent an entirely different message.

Arizona had 19 seconds left, two timeouts and the ball at its 25-yard line. Instead of trying to get in position for a Hail Mary or a long field goal — difficult but not impossible outcomes — Brennan had Noah Fifita take a knee to send the game into overtime.

Brennan said afterward that BYU would have played a prevent-style defense, making it hard to execute the chunk play needed to advance the ball to midfield. But Arizona had enough time, and enough timeouts, to at least try.

3. Dead zone

Including the two overtime periods, Arizona reached the red zone five times against BYU. The Wildcats scored only one touchdown — and scored only three times, period. That’s not good enough against a Top 25 opponent.

“At the end of the day,” Fifita said, “I think the red zone told the story.”

Because the space in which to operate is constricted, executing inside the opponent’s 20-yard line demands a “super-detailed” approach, Fifita said. Everything has to be precise.

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It’s even harder when the play-calling is one-dimensional.

On the first of the four unsuccessful red-zone tries — ones ending in a field goal or a turnover on downs — six of the seven plays Arizona ran inside the 20 were passes. The only run was a Fifita keeper on fourth-and-1.

That drive to open the second half? The one that ended with Fifita throwing a desperation heave on fourth down that was intercepted? Basically the same thing. Arizona had six plays inside the 20 — not including a fourth-down conversion via penalty — and five of them were passes.

The Wildcats did run the ball in the first overtime, and it appeared that Kedrick Reescano had a touchdown on the third snap of the period. But his dash into the end zone was negated by a holding penalty. Arizona had to pass facing second-and-13 and third-and-10.

The first red-zone play in the second OT was a Quincy Craig 2-yard run on fourth-and-1 from the 16. After that? All called pass plays, including one Fifita scramble.

Criticizing the play-caller is the lowest-hanging fruit in the analysis business. It’s incredibly easy to second-guess those decisions from the press box (or from the stands or your living-room couch).

But first-year offensive coordinator Seth Doege’s sequencing in the red zone left a lot to be desired — and he’d probably be the first person to tell you that. He showed little confidence in Arizona’s ability to run the ball in those situations. Given how hard and well Reescano ran between the tackles, that was a mistake.

4. Fifita vs. Bachmeier

One of my followers on the social-media platform formerly known as Twitter asserted that BYU freshman quarterback Bear Bachmeier outplayed Fifita.

I’m not sure we were watching the same game. At worst, it was a draw.

Bachmeier ended up being a difference-maker with his legs, rushing 22 times for 89 hard-earned yards and two touchdowns — the tying TD late in the fourth quarter and the game-winner in the second overtime.

He also had the worst passing performance of his young career.

Bachmeier completed just 41.4% of his pass attempts. His previous low was 63%, and he exceeded 70% in each of his previous three outings.

Bachmeier also threw two interceptions. He had one pick in his first five games.

The Wildcats largely succeeded in making Bachmeier look like a freshman. They just couldn’t stop him when it mattered most — on keepers and scrambles in high-leverage situations. Like backfield mate LJ Martin — who rumbled for 162 yards — the 6-2, 220-pound Bachmeier is a bulldozer with the ball in his hands.

Fifita’s final numbers weren’t dazzling — 25 of 45 for 219 yards with two touchdowns and one interception — but he deserved a better outcome.

The pick wasn’t a bad decision or a poorly thrown ball; he had no choice but to throw it up for grabs. It was fourth down, and he was about to be sacked.

Fifita threw perfect passes to Kris Hutson and Chris Hunter for touchdowns — and the last pass attempt of the game couldn’t have been placed much better. It was a difficult catch for Javin Whatley in the back corner of the end zone — but a play that he probably should have made.

5. Can’t let it linger

Arizona opens the second half of the season this upcoming Saturday at Houston.

The Wildcats can’t let one loss turn into two.

That’s exactly what happened to Penn State after its OT loss to Oregon. Well, not exactly — the Nittany Lions have lost three in a row.

A heartbreaking defeat like the one Arizona suffered against BYU can linger like a hangover. It’s especially challenging when you have to go on the road.

The Wildcats face the Houston Cougars at the equivalent of 9 a.m. Arizona time. Houston also finished its lopsided victory over Oklahoma State almost 10 hours before the UA-BYU game concluded.

It’ll be a mental test as much as a physical one. I believe these Wildcats will be up to the task. But I’ve also seen past UA teams crumble under similar circumstances.

Brennan was visibly frustrated when he addressed the media late Saturday night. But has the right mindset about where his team is at and what it needs to do to prevent a loss from becoming a losing streak.

“It’s getting back to work,” Brennan said. “It’s getting back to ‘redline.’ It’s getting back to the things that got us off to a 4-1 start. It’s what gave us a chance to beat the No. 18 team in the country tonight.

“I know we didn’t do it, but we were right there knocking on the door. ... I want us to be pissed off about how that thing ended. We should be. But we should be excited about the fact that we stood toe to toe with one of the most physical teams in our conference and slugged it out into double overtime.”

Photos: Arizona loses lead in final seconds, game in double overtime to BYU