At halftime of No. 15 BYU’s early season Big 12 showdown with revenge-minded Arizona Saturday at LaVell Edwards Stadium, more than a few sweltering Cougar fans were probably wondering if this Kelly Poppinga-coordinated defense was all it was cracked up to be.
Some asked: Any chance that Jay Hill could walk through that door after the former BYU DC worked his magic thousands of miles away in Ann Arbor Saturday afternoon in an improbable Michigan win?
Turns out, it was not a sweat for K-Pop’s guys, either.
BYU finally got a handle on shifty Wildcats quarterback Noah Fifita and pitched a second-half shutout. The Cougars (2-0) answered their first big test of the most-anticipated season in decades at the school, rolling past Arizona 28-17 in front of 64,409 sun-baked fans.
It was a big test if you believe head coach Kalani Sitake, who called Fifita one of the best quarterbacks in the country and Arizona one of the best teams in the country, let alone in the Big 12, after the Cougars scratched past the former Pac-12 school for the sixth consecutive time.
“Arizona is going to win a lot of games,” Sitake said.
Arizona led 17-14 at halftime after dominating the clock in the first 30 minutes, and were it not for one absolutely huge replay overturn of a fourth-down spot with 8:16 remaining in the game, the Wildcats (1-1) very well could be celebrating their first win over BYU since the 2008 Las Vegas Bowl.
“It’s a game of inches,” Sitake said, not-so-jokingly noting that he remained planted in the middle of the field until officials would agree to review a spot that had apparently given Arizona a first down at the BYU 18 with the visitors trailing just 21-17 and seemingly on their way to taking the lead.
And like last year’s 33-27 double-overtime win in Tucson and almost all of the BYU-Arizona encounters before that, it was a nail-biter until the bitter end — and rarely pretty.
Aside from the big stop of Arizona receiver Rodney Gallagher III by Cannon DeVries and Tommy Prassas inches short of the line to gain, the most significant play came seconds later.
Bear Bachmeier’s beautifully thrown deep ball to freshman Legend Glasker went for 61 yards and set up Kyler Kasper’s second touchdown grab, a 12-yard strike from Bachmeier that put touchdown-favorite BYU ahead 28-17 and pretty much sealed the game’s outcome.
“We ended up going out there and making plays, keeping it one play at a time, and it worked beautifully,” Kasper said.
Actually, the Cougars’ second game of the season and earliest Big 12 opener in its four years in the league was anything but beautiful much of the time, and felt more like a first game for both teams rather than the second.
To wit: there was a sequence in the second half in which penalties were called on four straight plays — including three on BYU.
Somehow, the Cougars survived, as they almost always seem to do against Arizona. Last year, BYU had to come from behind six times to win games, and four of its games were decided by one score. It appears that this crew is careening in the same direction.
“I wish we would stop doing that,” Sitake said.
The first half was particularly scary for the Cougar defense, as Arizona put together three long scoring drives and looked virtually unstoppable. Time and again Fifita got the ball out quickly and on target, or broke from the pocket for nice runs.
All those plays dried up in the second half, remarkably. BYU had sacked Fifita only twice in the last two matchups, but made his life miserable in the second half. Tausili Akana was particularly effective, with two and a half sacks.
Game ball goes to Poppinga and all the defenders, though, as Arizona picked up 240 yards plus the 17 points in the first half and then mustered only 87 yards in the second.
After Fifita — who famously said he had this game circled on his calendar for months — was 16 of 20 for 141 yards and a passer rating of 145.7 in the first half, he was just 7 of 11 for 89 yards in the second.
The Cougars sacked the fringe Heisman Trophy candidate three times, and held Arizona to minus-2 rushing yards in the second half.
“We knew coming in that (Fifita) was going to take those short, quick passes on us,” said BYU linebacker Cade Uluave, who intercepted the fifth-year senior in the first half and returned it 17 yards to the Arizona 9 (Bachmeier scored two plays later to knot the score at 7-7). “Really, credit to all the coaches for making adjustment and for the guys buying in and changing their tone.”
Talk about a turnaround.
Another game ball goes to Bachmeier, who was said to be the focus of Arizona’s defensive game plan for months. The Wildcats did most of the talking before the game, with defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales saying Bachmeier “had his day” last year and that he couldn’t wait for Sept. 12 to roll around.
Bachmeier totally outplayed Fifita in the second half, and finished 16 of 26 for 217 yards and three touchdowns, along with the first-quarter touchdown run. His passer rating was 169.7, while Fifita’s was 140.7.
“Let’s do that more,” Sitake said of his thoughts when Bachmeier threw the 61-yard bomb to Legend Glasker. The freshman who scored three touchdowns in the 63-7 win over Utah Tech last week found the going harder Saturday, but still made three catches for 74 yards.
Did BYU look like the 15th-best team in the nation?
At times, yes. At other times, no.
The Cougars committed seven penalties, including a couple of really costly holding penalties, and seemingly had forgotten that they have one of the best players in the league, LJ Martin, in the backfield.
After getting just four carries in the first half, the reigning Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year got 16 in the second and finished with 98 yards.
Martin’s 16-yard run to the Arizona 3 with about a minute left sealed it, then Sitake called for victory formation rather than attempting to tack on some style points.
No surprise there.
Surprising to some, though, was the way Arizona plowed through the BYU defense in the first half.
The Wildcats set the tone early offensively, taking the opening kickoff and driving 75 yards in 12 plays for a touchdown. Fifita was brilliant on the drive, completing 6 of 7 passes for 52 yards and running 11 yards for the TD.
Sorely missing starting strong safety Raider Damuni, the Cougars had few answers for Fifita and Arizona’s balanced attack the remainder of the half.
The Wildcats put together another 12 play drive, culminated by a 37-yard field goal after BYU got a rare third-down stop in the first half.
Bachmeier made some nice throws early in the second quarter, a 29-yarder to Kyler Kasper and a 25-yard touchdown strike to Reggie Frischknecht. The Snow College transfer’s first career TD reception gave the home side a 14-10 lead.
Keanu Tanuvasa made a big stop on third and 2 to force an Arizona punt at midfield, but the Cougars went three and out after Bachmeier was sacked on first down, losing 10 yards.
That’s when Arizona took control with another lengthy drive, going 72 yards in 10 plays. Fifita found tight end Shane King from 16 yards out to give the visitors a 17-14 lead. Remarkably, those were the last points the Wildcats scored.
“It was a great game, but a tough one, especially that first half,” Sitake said. “We had to make some adjustments, and then change some things, but the truth is, it was because Arizona was putting us on our heels.
“I am so glad that we were able to pivot, make some adjustments in all three phases.”
After Arizona coach Brent Brennan said BYU’s crowd wasn’t a factor in BYU’s 41-19 win two years ago in Provo, Sitake went out of his way to credit the 64,000-plus who braved 90 degree temperatures on Saturday.
“The fans showed up, made a lot of noise for us,” he said. “It was a day game, and I thought they had their influence and impact on the game.”
