⚡ CFB Dashboard

* Heisman candidate QB Noah Fifita has thrown for 75 touchdowns and 9,462 yards in his collegiate career, marks that rank tied for first and third among active FBS quarterbacks, respectively. With 279 passing yards in week one, QB Noah Fifita moved into second place in Arizona history with 9,445 passing yards. He is 549 yards shy of Nick Foles' program record of 10,011 yards. * BYU and Arizona are meeting for the 28th time. BYU was won the last five games against the Wildcats, dating back to Kalani Sitake's first game as the head coach of the Cougars in 2016. Four of the five games have been decided by a single possession. Most recently, BYU won a 33-27 double overtime thriller in Tucson last year. The two schools were former members of the WAC and played every year from 1962 to 1977. * Since 1996, Arizona defenses have limited an opposing offense to negative rush yards just four times. Northern Arizona's -7 rushing yards on Saturday were the least allowed by the Wildcats defense since holding No. 22 USC to –20 rush yards in 1999. Across 122 seasons of Arizona Football history, the least rushing yards ever allowed in a game were –33 at Stanford in 1992 (28 attempts). * BYU had three different true freshmen (L. Glasker, D. Eka, J. Tonga) score a rushing touchdown in their FBS debuts last week against Utah Tech. Only four other teams since 2000 have done the same. The other four schools are Army, (2017), Maryland (2016), USC (2006) and LSU (2000). It was only the second time since 2000 that three true freshmen at BYU scored touchdowns (rushing or receiving) in the same game (Oct. 13, 2018 vs. Hawaii - Zach Wilson, Dallin Holker, Gunner Romney. * The Wildcats notched six sacks in their season opener against Northern Arizona, marking their first five-plus sack performance since tallying five in the 2025 season opener against Hawai'i. Since 1996, the Wildcats defense has notched five-plus sacks 44 times, including the two performances under current defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales. Prior to Coach Gonzales taking over the Arizona defense, the Wildcats logged five-plus sacks just five times over the previous 10 seasons (2015–24). * This will be the earliest BYU has played a conference game since facing Air Force on September 11, during week two of the 2010 season, the Cougars' last year as a member of the MWC. BYU has played its first Big 12 game during week four, each of the first three seasons as a member of the league. The Cougars are 2-1 in Big 12 openers under Sitake and 17-10 overall in league play the past three years. * The Wildcats have picked up two road wins over teams ranked in the AP Top 25 under the direction of Head Coach Brent Brennan. Arizona took down No. 10 ranked Utah in 2024 and No. 22 Cincinnati in 2025 with Brennan at the helm. Coach Brennan is one of only seven coaches in program history with multiple road wins over ranked opponents. * BYU's defense had 17 interceptions in 2025 and ranked tied for No. 9 nationally. BYU started 2026 with three against Utah Tech. Only three teams had more on the opening 2026 weekend. BYU led the nation with 22 picks in 2024 and have finished in the top 20 in four of the past five seasons. * The Wildcats are banking on consistency of leadership delivering results for the team in 2026. Following a nine-win campaign last year, Arizona retained their head coach, offensive and defensive coordinators, and starting quarterback — they are one of only 12 FBS programs in the nation that can claim that. Predictions Jason Scheer (1-0): Arizona is saying all the right things, but it's not a secret that this is a game that has been circled on their calendar since last season. The Wildcats should have defeated the Cougars, but a missed bounce or two and some close calls stopped Arizona from getting it down. Fast forward a year later and Arizona is considered to be the touchdown underdog as it goes on the road. I don't really care about what happened in Provo two years ago because it's a different situation for both teams. It still comes down to one simple aspect: Can Arizona stop the run? If it fails to contain the run like it did last season, Arizona has very little chance of winning this game. If the Wildcats find a way to make Bear Bachmeier beat them with his arm, it's game on. I think Arizona is able to keep this game close, but BYU being at home winds up being the difference in a relatively low scoring game. You never want a moral victory in college football, but this is the type of game you can live with because Arizona is going to play well. BYU 27, Arizona 21 Shelby Scheer (1-0): I am a firm believer in Danny Gonzales and this coaching staff, so when Gonzales says he has been working on this game since it ended last season, it means something to me. Arizona has one of the best defensive coordinators in the nation and an offensive coordinator that has his second year working with Noah Fifita. Not enough people are paying attention to the fact that BYU lost a great defensive coordinator in Jay Hill and I think that makes a difference in this one. Arizona isn't going to stop the run against BYU because the Cougars are too good at it. What I do expect is for Arizona to make BYU's offense inefficient and contain the run enough to make the offense predictable, allowing Arizona's defense to blitz aggressively. BYU will make a late mistake that Arizona will capitalize on and the ball will bounce the Wildcats' way, which is something that didn't happen in last year's meeting in Tucson. Arizona 27, BYU 17