Arizona is heading into Saturday’s matchup with BYU carrying a few clear takeaways from its opener, and the Wildcats’ perspective suggests this won’t feel like the same team that let a double-digit lead slip away in Tucson last year.
That’s the read from SB Nation’s Arizona site, Arizona Desert Swarm, which broke down the matchup as the Cougars and Wildcats prepare to meet for the 28th time overall and the third time as Big 12 Conference opponents. Arizona hasn’t beaten BYU since 2008, and the question now is whether that streak survives another week.
The first thing Arizona learned from its win over FCS opponent NAU was less about the scoreboard and more about what held up physically. According to Arizona Desert Swarm, the Wildcats stayed healthy, but the bigger football takeaway was the pass rush and the run defense. Arizona got five sacks and allowed negative rushing yardage for the first time since 2006.
The Wildcats also believe the version of this team taking the field now is much more settled than the one BYU beat in double overtime a year ago. Arizona Desert Swarm pointed to a team that was still sorting itself out with so many newcomers in major roles, and one that didn’t quite trust it could finish the job after building a two-score lead in the fourth quarter. That season changed quickly after that loss, with Arizona dropping only one more regular-season game, a walkoff field goal defeat at Houston after rallying from 14 down in the fourth.
This year’s group, by contrast, started only six newcomers against NAU and is operating in the second year of the same offensive and defensive systems. The confidence, as Arizona Desert Swarm put it, is higher.
At the center of everything is Noah Fifita, who Arizona fans have watched long enough that the joke about his longevity is part of the conversation now. Arizona Desert Swarm said it views him as one of the three best quarterbacks in the Big 12. The program is even pushing him as a Heisman candidate, a long shot by any measure, but one that could at least gain some traction if Arizona gets off to a strong start.
The key point on Fifita isn’t that his game has been reinvented. It’s that he finally has the same offensive coordinator in back-to-back seasons since becoming the starter. Seth Doege’s influence last season included getting Fifita to run more, which helped unlock the offense, and one of his touchdown passes in the opener came while he was on the move.
Arizona’s most notable newcomer on the defensive side is Malcolm Hartzog Jr., a slot corner who arrived after four seasons at Nebraska. Arizona Desert Swarm described him as small but capable against tight ends and pass-catching backs.
As for the roster as a whole, Arizona sees its strength in two places: the receiving corps and the defensive line. The wideout group is deep enough to go seven or eight players deep, while the defensive front is even deeper and rotates regularly to stay fresh. That could matter against BYU if the Cougars try to wear the unit down with substitutions.
The weakest area remains the secondary, at least on paper. Arizona had to replace all five starters there, including four who were drafted and four total who landed on NFL rosters, with three drafted and one undrafted. Even so, the coaches think this year’s group, which started three transfers and a former walk-on against NAU, might actually be better in one-on-one coverage than the unit that helped Arizona tie for second nationally in interceptions in 2025.
And if there’s any lingering sense of how Arizona fans feel about BYU’s place in the Big 12, Arizona Desert Swarm made that plain too. Losing Pac-12 rivals, especially the California schools, was one of the biggest frustrations of the conference switch.
BYU and Utah help fill that regional gap, and the basketball games have only added more edge. Since the Cougars are good, the hatred comes naturally, because, as Arizona Desert Swarm put it, jealousy is a big part of Wildcat Nation’s fandom.
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