BYU and Arizona have a lengthy shared football history.
The Cougars and Wildcats were founding members of the WAC, playing there together for 15 years (1962-77) before going their separate ways and finally reuniting in the Big 12 in 2024.
Saturday will mark the eighth matchup between BYU and Arizona over the past two decades. During that span, the Cougars and Wildcats have faced off in five season openers, at two NFL stadiums, in two head coaching debuts, in a bowl game and, most recently, with Fox’s “Big Noon Kickoff” being hosted onsite beforehand.
BYU holds a 5-2 series lead over Arizona since the two schools began playing somewhat regularly again in 2006. Here’s a look back at BYU’s five most recent wins against Arizona.
2007 — BYU wins 20-7 in Provo
It was the coming-out party for the Max Hall/Harvey Unga/Austin Collie/Dennis Pitta era of BYU football.
In his first career start, Hall threw for 288 yards and two touchdowns.
Making his return from a 2006 season-ending injury, Unga accounted for 194 total yards on 24 touches with two scores.
In their first appearances since returning from missions, Collie and Pitta combined for 74 yards on eight catches, with Pitta finding the end zone for a touchdown.
The 20-7 season-opening win over the Wildcats was a sign of things to come for BYU, with the aforementioned quartet all earning All-Mountain West honors and leading the Cougars to an 11-2 finish and conference championship.
2016 — BYU wins 18-16 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale
The Jake Oldroyd game.
Kalani Sitake’s debut as BYU’s head coach came down to the leg of an 18-year-old true freshman from Texas attempting his first career field goal — resulting in an all-time Cougars moment.
Oldroyd — wearing his now-iconic green cleats — was unfazed by both the circumstances and NFL venue filled with 50,000 fans, nailing a 33-yarder to seal the dramatic 18-16 victory over Arizona.
It had nearly been a disastrous collapse for the Cougars, who led by 12 points in the fourth quarter, only to allow two late Wildcat touchdowns to trail for the first time with 1:26 left to play.
But Taysom Hill, making his return from 2015’s season-ending injury, led BYU down the field to set up Oldroyd’s kick and ensure that Sitake’s tenure started with a win.
Hill threw for 202 yards and a touchdown, with Jamaal Williams running for 162 yards in his own return to the Cougars.
And Jake Oldroyd made the kick of his life.
2018 — BYU wins 28-23 in Tucson
BYU’s offense in 2017 was arguably the worst in program history, so the Cougars’ first showing on that side of the ball in 2018 was rather surprising.
In Jeff Grimes’ first game as BYU’s offensive coordinator, the Cougars debuted a unique play action and jet sweep-heavy scheme that allowed them to dominate the time of possession battle, remain turnover-free and stun the double-digit favorite Wildcats in Tucson by a 28-23 margin.
BYU ran for 183 yards as a team, with 98 coming from Squally Canada, who scored three touchdowns and iced the game late with a third-and-7 first-down pickup late in the fourth quarter to hold off an Arizona rally.
Jet sweeps significantly aided the run game and offense as a whole, with BYU running at least nine of them — and faking them at least eight other times — to keep the Wildcat defense guessing.
Tanner Mangum was efficient at quarterback, throwing for 209 yards and connecting with Matt Bushman for a 24-yard go-ahead score in the third quarter.
Considering the context and circumstances, one could argue that this is one of the most underrated wins of the Sitake era at BYU.
2021 — BYU wins 24-16 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas
The Cougars famously finished 5-0 against Pac-12 foes in 2021, with such success beginning in Week 1 against Arizona.
The Vegas Kickoff Classic saw new BYU quarterback Jaren Hall connect with Neil Pau’u for two touchdowns, with Pau’u hauling in eight passes for 126 yards on the night.
Additionally, Tyler Allgeier ran for 94 yards and a score to begin his record-breaking campaign of 1,606 rushing yards and 23 touchdowns.
2024 — BYU wins 41-19 in Provo
Cougar fans definitely remember this one well.
In their first meeting as conference foes since 1977, BYU stomped Arizona 41-19 after having hosted Fox’s “Big Noon Kickoff” pregame show outside of LaVell Edwards Stadium beforehand.
Jake Retzlaff threw for 218 yards and two touchdowns, while Tanner Wall, Jakob Robinson and Isaiah Glasker all intercepted Noah Fifita, with Glasker’s pick being returned for a touchdown in the game’s final minute to put the exclamation point on BYU’s loud victory.
The Cougars moved to 6-0 after last year’s win over Arizona, and defeating the Wildcats this weekend in Tucson would put them at 6-0 yet again in 2025.