Arizona walked into Provo looking to erase the sting of last year’s 2OT heartbreak against BYU. Instead, the Wildcats left with another frustrating result, a 28-17 road loss that dropped Brent Brennan’s team to 1-1 after a halftime lead vanished in the second half.
The biggest issue was simple and brutal: Arizona never scored after the break. Brennan pointed straight at the team’s inability to close.
"We just have to finish. That comes down to execution.
That is red line for us, and we didn't finish in the fourth quarter on offense or defense. As frustrated as we are I was proud of how hard we played.
I thought we played physical, I thought we ran the ball effectively against a really good defense.
He also addressed an injury concern involving sophomore wide receiver Gio Richardson, saying, "I don't. I think he was pretty hot, so the impact was significant."
One of the defining moments came on Arizona’s decision to go for it on fourth down, a call that didn’t pay off. Brennan defended the choice and credited BYU for making the stop.
"That's football. They made a good play.
They were right at the sticks, I think that's disappointing, but really in that moment what choice do you have right? The only choice you have is to get back to fighting because there's still plenty of time left in the football game.
And in my opinion we did not execute at the level we need to."
He added that the situation was tight and he trusted Noah Fifita to make the throw.
"Time was short and I just have a lot of faith in Noah [Fifita] and he delivered a strike but like I said BYU made a great play, a great tackle in space and stopped us short of the sticks."
Even with the loss, Brennan emphasized the bigger picture for his team after going on the road and battling a top 15 opponent for four quarters.
"The biggest thing is that we went on the road. We played a top 15 team and we battled for four quarters.
We played physical, we played tough, we didn't back down. And we're disappointed with the outcome.
That part of it is not fun. But we have so much football left to play.
What's important is what we do next with our next opportunity to improve and get better."
Brennan also made sure to recognize Max and Izzy, noting how much they mean to the program.
"Max and Izzy are two incredible human beings and they're also good football players. Part of it is just how much our team loves and cares about them, having them with us for one final ride is really exciting."
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