What No. 11 BYU's response to Arizona adversity revealed about Cougars' identity

PROVO — Noah Fifita was having his way Saturday afternoon against then-No. 15 BYU.

The senior quarterback billed as a Heisman hopeful looked the part as made all the right reads early, completing six of his first seven passes and throwing for 135 yards and a touchdown to help the Wildcats' upset potential with a 17-14 halftime lead.

That was the last lead Arizona took, though.

The Cougars held the Wildcats to fewer than 100 yards during a second-half shutout en route to a 28-17 win that pushed BYU up to No. 11 in the most recent Associated Press Top 25.

"He was so efficient. He knew exactly where to go with the ball," BYU coach Kalani Sitake said of Fifita's first half. "It was so difficult to throw him off, and we tried a lot of different looks, a lot of different coverages and disguises, and he saw through all of it."

Joining the team in the locker room after his usual spot on the field, defensive coordinator Kelly Poppinga made his adjustments. So did Aaron Roderick, the offensive coordinator who has been Sitake's "eye in the sky" from the booth for much of his tenure.

The only thing constant in college football schemes is change, and BYU had plenty of them.

"Eventually, we just had to decide we've got to stop the run, stop him scrambling and then try to figure out things from there," Sitake said. "It seemed like everything that we were trying to do, they were just capitalizing on. We were losing first and second downs. They were getting third and shorts."

The Wildcats (1-1, 0-1 Big 12) out-gained BYU with 240 yards to 132 before the break, emboldened by Fifita and nearly three times the Cougars' 8 minutes, 31 seconds in time of possession.

Things changed in the second half.

LJ Martin had 16 carries for 73 yards after the break en route to a 98-yard total on 20 rushes, and BYU ran the ball nearly twice as much as it threw while Bear Bachmeier threw for 217 yards and three touchdowns without an interception before taking a knee on the Arizona 6-yard line to clinch the 11-point win.

Should the Cougars have punched in one final touchdown at the buzzer, for the sake of style points, box scores, and the College Football Playoff selection committee? That's been the argument of message boards and social media since the weekend.

But that isn't Sitake's style, either. The former BYU fullback entering his 11th season at his alma mater speaks often of respecting the game, the opponent, and doing enough to win — whether by 1 point or 100. It's a mentality that has earned Sitake respect across the coaching community with a team that beats opponents until they are down, and then helps them up when the final whistle blows.

There's a long way to go until the initial CFP rankings are revealed Tuesday, Nov. 3 on ESPN. But if Sitake is to lead the Cougars to their first-ever College Football Playoff appearance, it may be a test of one of the oldest adages: can nice guys finish first?

"They finished the game," Arizon'a Brent Brennan told Tucson-area media two days later. "I think when I look at that, we went toe-to-toe; our kids played physical, and there were a lot of good moments in that game. But when it came down to the last 8 1/2 minutes, we didn't finish. And that's on me.

"But I was proud of our kids: the physicality, the toughness, going on the road and tough environment. I thought they did a great job handling those things."

How to watch, stream and listen

No. 11 BYU’s 1st trip to Colorado State in 16 years

Saturday will be the Cougars’ first trip to Fort Collins since Sonny Lubbick Field at Hughes Stadium was torn down in 2018 to make room for the state-of-the-art stadium on the Colorado State campus. Here’s how to watch the former conference rivals on TV, radio, and online.

What Saturday's win revealed of BYU may be more important two games into the 2026 season than margin of victory. After returning the bulk of production on offense and defense a year ago, the Cougars still have the same winning formula in Bachmeier, Martin and a defense that thrives in forcing turnovers.

An offensive line that had plenty of mistakes — and the bulk of seven penalties for 59 yards — against the Wildcats only allowed one sack, a 10-yard drop early in the second quarter before Bachmeier connected with Oregon transfer Kyler Kasper for a pair of second-half touchdowns.

The Cougars controlled both sides of the line of scrimmage, out-gaining Arizona with 148 yards to 97 on the ground including 43-7 in the third quarter.

Tommy Prassas and Cannon DeVries, who had a game-high nine tackles and a pass breakup, made perhaps the biggest play of the day when the duo came up on Rodney Gallagher's catch early on fourth-and-4 with 8:24 left and stopped the pass catcher less than a yard short of the first down to help seal the win.

"This is a good win for us," Sitake said Monday. "We were able to find out a little bit more about ourselves.

"Every team has their own identity start to form," he added, "and we're starting to see ours come through. A lot of it is on the backs of our leaders, and hopefully we can establish that more this week as we take on Colorado State."

Related topics