Arizona’s football coaches and players have done most of the talking leading up to Saturday’s ultra-important Big 12 opener against BYU on Saturday at LaVell Edwards Stadium.
The Cougars have remained mostly silent, preferring to let the sleeping underdogs lie, as it were.
Both squads tuned up last week by blowing out overmatched opponents, and keeping their best stuff under wraps, presumably.
Now it is time for one of the expected contenders for the conference crown to make a statement.
Will it be the No. 15 Cougars or upstart Wildcats?
Whichever squad emerges from the 1:30 p.m. MDT showdown in Provo will get a leg up on the race to supplant Texas Tech as the conference king, while the loser will face long odds to make it to Arlington — especially if that loser is BYU.
Seemingly, the pressure is on the Cougars (1-0) to collectively hold serve at home, while the most pressure on any one individual is squarely on Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita. The fifth-year senior is 0-2 against BYU and hoping to make amends for a miserable performance two years ago at LES when BYU used four turnovers to thrash the visitors 41-19 in Arizona’s first season in the Big 12.
Fifita has said he’s had the game circled on his calendar since the schedule came out last January, after BYU overcame a two-score deficit in the fourth quarter and beat his team 33-27 in Tucson in double-overtime last year.
Fifita was outplayed by freshman QB Bear Bachmeier last year after a lengthy weather delay at what is now called Casino Del Sol Stadium. Arizona defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales has stewed over that loss for months, saying in July that BYU’s quarterback “had his day” last year and that this year the Cats will be better prepared for the dual-threat QB in Provo.
Meanwhile, the Cougars have maintained a low profile, measuring their words carefully and heaping praise on Arizona at every opportunity.
“They’re a tough team, and we’re excited about the matchup,” head coach Kalani Sitake said. “We have to be at our best to beat them.”
When he was told that Arizona players have talked a lot this week about getting payback for five straight losses to the Cougars, BYU safety and Arizona native Tommy Prassas said he hasn’t been paying attention.
Speaking of Prassas, he will get the start Saturday, after starting strong safety and defensive leader Raider Damuni sustained a serious injury in the 63-7 win over Utah Tech and will be out for at least a month, perhaps longer.
Arizona enters the showdown relatively healthy, while BYU will also be without its second-best running back, sophomore Sione Moa.
“The challenge goes to our DBs to be ready to go against a very difficult offense and one of the best quarterbacks in the country,” Sitake said. “Those guys threw for 300 and ran for 200 (in a 35-7 win over Northern Arizona) and that’s not an easy thing to do.”
Arizona’s roster has moved in a more positive direction this week; the Wildcats were able to add their leading rusher (Ismail Mahdi) and third-leading tackler (Max Harris) from last year to their team this week after a county judge granted them a temporary restraining order (TRO) to play a fifth college season.
Both stars made the trip to Utah on Friday and both have been cleared to play.
While Arizona coaches have stressed the importance of Saturday’s game for months, BYU coaches have talked about it being one of 12 opportunities to be at their best. However, receiver Kyler Kasper, a transfer from Oregon who grew up in Chicago before his family moved to the Phoenix area when he was 13, acknowledged that there’s been a “slight shift” in the players’ mentality this week.
Receivers coach Fesi Sitake “really emphasized it to us receivers after practice (Tuesday),” Kasper said. “We really have to lock in this week.”
BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick said games like these are what the Cougars signed up for when they joined a power conference.
“There’s a lot of parity. Everybody in this league is good enough to beat each other. The difference from the top team to the bottom in the standings is not that wide of a gap, and you have to be ready every week,” Roderick said. “I think that’s kind of a hallmark of our conference is that parity every week. You have to be ready. I know it sounds like a cliche, but it’s a real thing.”
