No. 14 BYU Experienced ‘Déjà Vu’ Rolling Through Arizona
Oct 12, 2024, 8:20 PM | Updated: Oct 14, 2024, 2:59 pm
PROVO, Utah – BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff summed up the Cougars 41-19 win over Arizona better than anyone could.
“It was like déjà vu from the K-State game, right?”
Yes, Jake. It was.
#BYU is football is 6-0.
No. 14 BYU 41, Arizona 19.
Statement No. 6 was a dominant one for the Cougars.#BYUFootball
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) October 12, 2024
BYU rolled through Arizona on Saturday afternoon in front of a sold-out crowd of more than 64,000 fans on a sundrenched afternoon in Provo.
BYU football dominated in the middle eight to pull away from Arizona
The 6-0 Cougars cruised past the same Arizona team that two weeks ago put the hammer down on Utah in Salt Lake City for an upset victory. Because of that performance from Arizona, many believed that BYU could be in danger of an upset.
Early in the game, similar to that K-State victory three weeks ago in Provo, BYU started slow, letting Arizona get on the board first after a Montana Lemonious-Craig touchdown pass from Noah Fifita.
After that, it was all BYU on a national TV showcase game with Gus Johnson and Joel Klatt speaking poetically about the rich history of Cougar football.
BYU dominated the “middle eight,” as they did against K-State. The BYU defense picked off Noah Fifita with an acrobatic play from Jakob Robinson to open the third quarter. One play later, Jake Retzlaff connected with Chase Roberts for a nine-yard touchdown pass.
It's happening again!
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) October 12, 2024
Then, linebacker Isaiah Glasker forced a fumble out of Noah Fifita’s hands, and Harrison Taggart landed on the ball.
It’s not a fluke when a team does something multiple times.
Whether it’s day game struggles or bye week issues, BYU continues to show that it’s built differently in 2024.
Coming out of the bye week strong
They made that message clear in statement number six on Saturday afternoon.
“Everyone was worried about the bye week, coming out flat, and things like that. That’s what everybody wants to talk about,” Sitake said. “… I think the approach we had last week was different from what we’ve had, and I think we can stick with that.”
BYU finished with 398 yards of offense and only allowed 389. The balanced effort from BYU included 251 yards passing and 147 on the ground.
Retzlaff was 18-of-32 with two touchdown passes and zero interceptions.
The difference in the game was takeaways.
Arizona finished with four. BYU had only one.
Takeaways played a significant role in BYU’s win
Safety Tanner Wall started the takeaways for BYU’s defense with an interception in the second quarter, where Noah Fifita saw a wide-open Lemonious-Craig for another potential touchdown.
After Wall’s athletic play, the BYU offense took over on their one-yard line and moved 99 yards, capped off by a Parker Kingston touchdown pass to running back LJ Martin. The same play call they dialed up in the road win at Arkansas last season.
BYU’s onslaught of takeaways on Arizona concluded with linebacker Isaiah Glasker grabbing a pick-six on Noah Fifta to close the door shut on the game and a 41-19 victory.
“I think everybody just does their job,” Sitake said on how his team has successfully generated takeaways.
BYU’s defense did an excellent job containing Arizona’s star receiver Tetairoa McMillan.
T-Mac finished with five receptions for 78 yards on nine targets. His long was a 39-yarder. Aside from that, he was kept out of the endzone.
BYU made life tough for Arizona QB Noah Fifita, who finished 26-52 for 275 yards, three interceptions and a touchdown.
Still, the ninth-year head coach sees opportunities for improvements in his defense.
“We had a little bit of guys freelancing here and there. I think that’s to be expected sometimes. But if there’s any questions, let’s do the fundamentals. I think we can tackle better. … We have enough talent that we should play good, clean football.”
Noah Fifita struggled against BYU’s defense
While BYU experienced a positive case of déjà vu on Saturday afternoon, Fifita, who has struggled this season, felt it was a negative case of déjà vu.
“It was just another week reiterating the same thing, so it’s starting to get old. I have to fix a lot of things and get better individually,” Fifita said. “I mean, I’m just not even close to where I want to be individually, and we aren’t close to where we need to be offensively. It’s because of me.”
Getting healthy at running back
Unlike last month’s win over the purple Wildcats from Manhattan, BYU had its entire collection of running backs available.
LJ Martin and Hinckley Ropati were suited up. The same with Sione I. Moa, but coaches kept him sidelined to get him one more week of rest.
LJ Martin had a strong performance in #BYU’s win over Arizona.
11 carries, 52 rushing yards, 1 TD
Three receptions, 46 receiving yards, 1 TD#BYUFootball pic.twitter.com/sVQtwoyRYZ— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) October 12, 2024
Martin finished 49 rushing yards a touchdown, to go along with three receptions for 46 yards and a touchdown grab from Parker Kingston.
Ropati finished with 65 yards on nine carries but had one fumble late in the game.
BYU’s victory puts them at 6-0 overall on the season, clinching their ticket to the postseason.
Next up for BYU is a Friday night matchup against Oklahoma State, who is 0-3 in Big 12 play. Kickoff is at 8:15 p.m. (MT) on ESPN.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for KSLsports.com and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU in the Big 12 Conference on X: @Mitch_Harper.
