PROVO — The official countdown began last spring.
But BYU has been anticipating its season-opening rematch against Arizona for much longer than that.
"We have a countdown in the locker room. We've had that countdown since May, when it said 124 days," said linebacker Kelly Poppinga. "We slide out a paper and put a new one in every day. We're focused on that game. We can't look past them, we can't look on to who we play the week after or who we play in October or who we play in the last game. That first game against Arizona is the first stepping stone to another championship. We're ready to go."
It's been nearly one year since BYU suffered a heartbreaking 16-13 defeat to the Wildcats in Tucson. Since then, the Cougars have quietly waited for another shot at Arizona.
They'll get their chance on Sept. 1 at LaVell Edwards Stadium. With fall camp coming to a conclusion Wednesday, BYU begins to prepare in earnest for the Wildcats today.
And not a moment too soon.
"We're just sick of our defense. They are so good at what they do. We're ready to start focusing on another defense," said senior wide receiver Matt Allen, who broke a bone in a finger during Wednesday's practice.
"It will be good for us. Obviously, we're sick of beating up on our own guys. We want to get after Arizona and their defense."
Team trainer Kevin Morris is working to fit Allen with a protective mold to guard the finger. Allen will be evaluated again Friday.
During the off-season, Wildcat coach Mike Stoops hired a new offensive coordinator, Sonny Dykes, who has installed a spread offense. Dykes formerly coached at Texas Tech, where he was on the same staff as BYU offensive coordinator Robert Anae, before Anae joined the Cougars in 2005.
Arizona finished 6-6 last season, but handed BYU one of its two losses. Certainly, the Cougars are not lacking motivation.
"We owe them one. They got us last year in a great game coming down to the wire. This year, it's going to be another great battle," Poppinga said. "I remember we made a lot of mistakes in that game. We didn't capitalize on a couple of turnovers that we had. Coming down the stretch, as a defense, we had a chance to stop them as time was running down. They got just enough yardage. It was bitter and we want to erase that memory quickly come Sept. 1 and make a better one."
"They're a great team. Their defense is solid and they have a lot of athletes," BYU linebacker Bryan Kehl said of the Wildcats. "They changed it up from last year and put in a new offense. They lost their best receiver, so there are going to be different looks. They're athletic, big, fast and strong. We need to keep them in front of us and play our game with our phenomenal effort. And we have every ability to win the game.
"As far as my confidence level to play Arizona, it is miles ahead of last year," Kehl continued. "I think that's collective on the defense. We're ready to go. They scored 16 (points) on us last year and I expect that number to be smaller this year."
Allen's memory of last season's loss to Arizona includes his touchdown catch in the third quarter that was nullified by an offensive pass interference call. Had Allen's TD stood, the Cougars would have owned a 14-6 lead. Instead, BYU had to settle for a field goal and it eventually fell behind 13-10 going into the fourth quarter.
"There was an unfortunate call in the end zone," Allen said. "You always think about the what-ifs, but you have to understand things aren't always going to go your way. We'd like to make it this year so it doesn't come down to one call or one missed tackle. We'd like to be in control of the game from the start and we weren't last year."
Late in the game, Arizona wide receiver Syndric Steptoe caught a short pass and appeared to be stopped for a loss, but reversed field and ran through two would-be tacklers to gain a first down and put the Wildcats in field goal range. That set up Arizona kicker Nicholas Folk's 48-yard field goal in the closing seconds to seal the Wildcat win.
Allen, who hails from Peoria, Ariz., is eager to help the Cougars redeem themselves. "It's just another game that we feel we need to win," he said. "The significance comes from what happened last year. We want to avenge that loss."
E-mail: jeffc@desnews.com