On a day when BYU and Arizona ran 118 plays between them, the Cougars only needed three moments to tilt the game their way.
No. 15 BYU’s 28-17 win over Arizona on Saturday in Provo was shaped by an interception, a fourth-down stop and a touchdown that had been years in the making. Those three plays carried more weight than the other 115.
The first swing came from linebacker Cade Uluave, whose interception of Noah Fifita helped erase Arizona’s early 7-0 lead. Uluave picked off Fifita at the Wildcats’ 26-yard line and returned it 17 yards to the Arizona 9. He didn’t exactly frame it as a perfect highlight reel moment, though.
“Man, that was embarrassing,” Uluave said. “The pick was awesome, and then I thought I had the edge, and then I decided to cut back and then I tripped.”
BYU turned the turnover into points right away, with Bear Bachmeier scoring on a 6-yard run moments later to tie the game.
Uluave credited Isaiah Glasker for making the whole thing happen.
“What made that play was Isaiah Glasker coming off the edge,” Uluave said. “He smoked the quarterback, just absolutely smoked him, and the quarterback just threw a cookie to me.”
Later, another BYU transfer story came through in a big way. Kyler Kasper, once a standout at William Field High in Gilbert, Arizona, had entered college with plenty of buzz after collecting 73 catches for 1,355 yards and 11 touchdowns in two seasons and drawing 25 scholarship offers that included Notre Dame, Ohio State, Georgia, USC and Miami.
He chose Oregon, but injuries kept stopping his momentum. He finished with a degree in social science and just six receptions for 77 yards in 23 games before landing at BYU through the transfer portal.
Against Arizona, Kasper finally got the kind of moment he had been chasing. Bachmeier found the 6-foot-6 receiver for a 6-yard touchdown in the third quarter, giving BYU the lead for good and sending Kasper into the end zone for the first time since high school in 2021.
“It means everything,” he said. “It has been a long couple of years in college, especially the last two years, just banged up and going through that emotionally and physically, pushing through every day and getting back healthy.”
The final turning point came with Arizona still hanging around in the fourth quarter. Down 21-17, the Wildcats drove from their own 25 to the BYU 21 before facing fourth-and-4. Fifita threw short to Rodney Gallagher III, who tried to fight past the marker, but Cannon DeVries and Tommy Prassas combined to stop him short.
At first, the measurement went Arizona’s way.
“It was crazy,” Uluave said. “I saw the ref looking and gave them a first down and I was like, ‘No way!”
BYU challenged, the replay overturned the spot, and Arizona came away empty on downs. That sequence changed the feel of the game immediately.
“They reviewed it and we fired everyone up. I think the whole sideline felt it and the whole crowd,” Uluave said. “It was definitely a game-changing moment.”
Four plays later, Bachmeier hit Kasper again for his second touchdown catch, and that was that.
Arizona coach Brent Brennan pointed to the stop as the moment his team let the game slip.
“They made a good play there right at the sticks,” he said. “The only choice you have in that moment is to get back to fighting, because there’s still plenty of time left in the football game. That, in my opinion, is where we didn’t execute at the level we needed to.”
In Other News...
BYU Showed Something Different In The Second Half At Arizona
Down at halftime in Tucson, No. 15 BYU came out of the break looking like a different team and finished with a 28-17 win over Arizona. The Cougars leaned on a strong rushing drive to open the second half, got meaningful production from players such as Kyler Kasper and Tausili Akana, and began to tilt the game with a steadier, more physical approach after the intermission.
Arizona still had a chance to flip the pressure back onto BYU before the Cougars defense shut the door with a key fourth-down stop. From there, BYUs pass rush started to squeeze the Wildcats late, and the Cougars spent the final stretch controlling the flow instead of chasing it, a meaningful shift for a team that had to answer a few questions after the break. [Read more 🡒]
BYU Keeps Winning Big Games Even When The Start Looks Familiar
For a while, it looked a lot like one of those nights when BYU would have to grind through familiar frustration before finding its footing. The Cougars still came away with a Big 12 win over Arizona, and the familiar part of the story was how much the game changed after halftime. Kelly Poppingas defense settled in and Aaron Rodericks offense found better answers after a slow start, giving BYU the kind of second-half control that has started to define these bigger nights.
Tommy Prassas also ended up in the middle of the decisive sequence late, when a key fourth-quarter tackle helped seal the result. It was another reminder that BYU keeps finding a way in these matchups, even when the opening stretch suggests the game might go another direction. The win was Kalani Sitakes sixth straight over Arizona, which says plenty about how often the Cougars have been the team making the right adjustments when these teams meet. [Read more 🡒]
BYUs Arizona Win Put A Promising New Core On Display
BYUs win over Arizona offered a useful snapshot of how the Cougars are starting to piece together a new-look core on both sides of the ball. The second-half surge was powered by a defense that kept tightening the screws, with Tausili Akana making his presence felt, Uluave and Cannon DeVries adding key support, and the offense finding enough balance to pull away. It was the kind of performance that suggests the roster is settling into a clearer identity early in the season.
The more interesting part for BYU is how many different names are starting to matter in meaningful spots. Isaiah Glasker emerged as a steady target in the passing game, and Kyler Kaspers scoring impact showed how quickly the receiving group can tilt a game when it gets rolling. Akanas production up front only adds to the sense that this team may have more emerging pieces than expected, which makes the next stretch of games worth watching closely. [Read more 🡒]