Arizona’s trip to BYU on Saturday is the kind of early-September game that can bend a season.
It’s only the second week, but this one already carries real weight. BYU is ranked 15th, plays at LaVell Edwards Stadium and has been one of the better teams in the conference for the last few years.
That’s why Arizona goes in as about a touchdown underdog. A Wildcats win would not be shocking, exactly, but it would still qualify as surprising.
That’s what makes this matchup such a clear measuring stick. Arizona looked the part of a good team in last week’s win over NAU, and nothing about that result should have changed how people feel about the Wildcats.
If you believed in this group a week ago, you can still believe in it now. The real question is how high that belief goes.
Seven wins? Eight?
Nine or 10? A shot at the conference title?
Saturday will either reinforce those ideas or knock them off course.
Brent Brennan knows the challenge in front of his team.
“It’s been one of the best teams in the conference for the last few years,” head coach Brent Brennan said of BYU. “They have outstanding players in lots of different positions. They’re very well coached, and so this is a big-time football game.
“This is going to be a great football game. We get to go on the road, we get to play in front of a tough environment. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Arizona’s last game against BYU was close to fun. The last trip to BYU was the opposite of that. But this version of the Wildcats is better than the one that took the field in 2024, and it has a chance to be better than the 2025 version, too.
There’s also plenty of season left no matter what happens Saturday. A loss wouldn’t end anything.
It wouldn’t even eliminate Arizona from the conference championship race, though starting league play 0-1 would leave little margin for error. The schedule is manageable enough that the Wildcats could still find their way to AT&T Stadium.
Still, a win would mean much more than just a good road result. It would give Brennan another signature victory and put Arizona in a strong position to chase the conference title game. It would also turn up the attention on the program, because every game after that would carry a little more weight.
Defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales put it plainly.
“We have an opportunity to go up there and play one of the best football teams in the country in their house,” Gonzales said. “And if it doesn’t go our way, it doesn’t mean that our season’s over. It doesn’t even mean we’re out of the conference championship race.
“What it means is we got to get our ass ready for the next great opportunity. We have an unbelievable opportunity for this team to go play a football game in an unbelievable atmosphere.”
That’s the heart of it. Arizona has already shown it can beat ranked teams and win big games, but not many of those chances come this early, with so much still ahead of the team. This one checks every box for a true statement game.
And if the Wildcats leave Provo with a win, it won’t just be their biggest victory under Brennan. It would immediately change the way the rest of the season looks.
Suddenly, game 13 starts to matter. Beyond that, too.
That’s the opportunity in front of Arizona on Saturday: not just to win a tough road game, but to announce itself as a real threat in the Big 12.
In Other News...
Arizona Suddenly Has A Defensive Strength BYU Can't Ignore
Arizonas linebacker room has become one of the quieter reasons this defense has started to draw real attention, and it starts with the way Danny Gonzales talks about the group. The defensive coordinator has been especially high on Josh Bringuel, the young linebackers coach whose relationships and teaching ability have helped the unit settle in and improve. Gonzales has also pointed to the development of Cooper Blomstrom and Chase Kennedy, a sign that this is not just about one standout, but about a room that is becoming more reliable across the board.
For Arizona, that matters because the defense is heading into games where consistency at linebacker can tilt everything from run fits to coverage communication. Gonzales has made it clear he likes what he has in the middle of the defense, and his praise for Taye Brown suggests the Wildcats believe they have a difference-maker anchoring the group. The bigger question now is whether that growth holds up when the competition asks more from the unit, because if it does, Arizona may have found a strength opponents cant afford to overlook. [Read more 🡒]
Arizona Gets A Late Boost Before Its Biggest BYU Test
Arizona picked up a late roster boost heading into one of its biggest tests of the season, adding running back Ismail Mahdi, linebacker Max Harris and punter Sullivan Moon after a Pima County judge granted them a temporary restraining order against the NCAA. The trio is now cleared for competition, giving the Wildcats a little more flexibility at a time when depth can matter just as much as star power.
The most immediate impact figures to come from Mahdi and Harris, who are expected to provide meaningful help on both sides of the ball as Arizona prepares for BYU. Their availability gives the coaching staff a few more options for a road game that already carried plenty of weight, and the question now is how quickly they can be folded into the mix once the Wildcats get to Provo. [Read more 🡒]
Arizona Faces A Huge Rotation Question In Big 12 Opener
Arizonas Big 12 opener arrives with a familiar opponent and a few fresh questions attached. The Wildcats meet No. 15 BYU on Saturday for the third straight time, and the matchup brings together two things Arizona will need to sort out quickly: a defense that has been excellent against the run and a Cougar team that wants to lean on its rushing game. For Arizona, the other side of the equation is just as important, with quarterback Noah Fifita and the backfield pieces around him central to a cleaner start in league play.
The Wildcats also enter conference play still trying to move past the turnover issues that have shadowed parts of their season. Ismail Mahdi and Max Harris are back in the picture after recently regaining eligibility, which gives Arizona more options as it tries to settle its rotation and find the right rhythm on offense. Against a ranked opponent in a game that already carries some early Big 12 weight, the personnel decisions feel as significant as the matchup itself. [Read more 🡒]