Utah left no doubt in the Holy War, and now the Utes head into another tricky road test carrying all the momentum they’ve built.
The 28-20 win over BYU was the kind of game that shows why Utah has climbed to No. 2 in both the Associated Press Top 25 and the College Football Playoff rankings. Devon Dampier owned the night, scoring all four Utah touchdowns while throwing for 177 yards and two scores and adding 87 rushing yards and two more touchdowns.
He even hauled in a critical fourth-down trick play. On the other side, Bear Bachmeier’s four interceptions - including two in the red zone - were the undoing for BYU, with Trey Reynolds delivering the goal-line game-changer for Utah with four minutes left.
The Utes were sharp where it mattered most. They turned four of five red zone trips into touchdowns and held BYU to just 13 points on five trips of its own.
Rice-Eccles Stadium was a factor too, with the crowd creating penalties and communication issues for BYU and even helping force false starts on fourth downs that changed the decision-making. When it was over, Utah had moved to 9-0 for the third time in school history, joining the 2004 and 2008 teams.
Now comes Arizona, and the matchup has plenty to chew on. Utah travels to Tucson on Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
MT on FOX with the nation’s longest active win streak at 15 games and a 10-game home streak that ranks as the fifth longest in the country. Game Grader has Utah at 72.3 this season, 10th among Power 4 teams, while Arizona sits at 63.6, 18th.
Over the 2023-25 span, Utah’s average is 56.5 and Arizona’s is 55.6.
Utah’s rise has been steep. In Pick Six Previews’ preseason magazine, the Utes were picked third in the Big 12 and slotted No. 22 in the preseason rankings.
They’ve since surged to No. 9 and now sit atop the Big 12 race. Game Grader has them favored in every remaining game.
Arizona has outperformed its preseason billing too. Pick Six Previews had the Wildcats eighth in the Big 12, but they’re 7-2 with six double-digit wins and close losses to BYU and Texas Tech.
Last Friday, they needed a wild comeback to beat TCU and also benefited from a fumbled kickoff in the final minute. They’re up to No. 15 in Game Grader.
For Utah, the offense keeps running through Dampier. The Utes rank 13th among 68 Power 4 teams on offense, while Arizona’s defense is 16th.
Morgan Scalley didn’t hide his admiration after the BYU win, saying, "he's a competitor, a warrior, he wins us football games." At this pace, Dampier could even find himself in New York City as a Heisman finalist.
Arizona’s defense has been one of the more complete units in the country by the opponent-adjusted numbers, ranking 16th overall, 24th against the run and 19th against the pass. That’s notable given the Wildcats tied the NFL draft record with four defensive backs selected after the 2025 season, a departure that looked like it might create regression in 2026. Still, mobile quarterbacks have had success against them, with BYU’s Bear Bachmeier, West Virginia’s Michael Hawkins and Texas Tech’s Thomas Castellanos averaging 31 points and 450 yards.
On the other side, Arizona’s offense has been productive enough to keep pressure on opponents. The Wildcats rank 21st among Power 4 teams on offense, while Utah’s defense sits 40th.
Noah Fifita has kept the momentum rolling after becoming Arizona’s first all-conference quarterback since the 1970s. He’s eighth in the Power Four in QB rating, fifth in passing touchdowns and 12th in yards per attempt.
Arizona continues to hit explosive plays through the air, and Isaiah Mizell’s 19 yards per catch average ranks fifth in the Big 12. The run game, though, is a problem.
It sits in the bottom 10 of the opponent-adjusted rankings, and Utah should be able to take that away and force Arizona into a pass-heavy script. That sets up the strength-on-strength part of the game: Fifita throwing against Utah’s No. 4-ranked pass defense by opponent QB rating.
There’s also the trend line to watch. Teams coming off a top-10 win have been vulnerable the next week, going 6-11 straight-up and 5-12 against the spread this season.
Utah fits that profile, and the emotional lift from the BYU game only adds to the challenge. Arizona has shown enough to make this a real test, especially at home in primetime.
The prediction here is simple enough: Utah keeps the streak alive and stays unbeaten, but Arizona keeps it close.
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