Arizona Football: Matchup info, TV, and injuries, vs BYU

With the season just under a month away, we take an early look at Arizona Football’s week one match-up against the BYU Cougars. 

The 2021 Arizona Football season is quickly approaching as we are just under 25 days until the Wildcats officially kick-off in week one against BYU. We take an early look at Arizona’s match-up and break down the Cougars.

Already it has been a busy couple of months for the Wildcats as Arizona adjusts to the Jedd Fisch era, and the program ultimately prepares for the 2021 season.

Coming in, the Wildcats will have a tough match-up against the Cougars to open the season, and together, they will look to answer a lot of lingering questions about this team and this roster before they take the field.

Luckily, the Cougars are in a somewhat similar place here as both squads will break in new quarterbacks, and will need to replace several key positional players. However, there is still a bit of time for both squads ahead of their week one match-up, and with that said, here is our early Preview of the Wildcats’ game against BYU.

Getting to Know Arizona Football’s foe, the BYU Cougars

Team: BYU Cougars 

Conference: Independent

2020 Record: Finishing 11-1 on the year with a win in the Boca Raton Bowl against UCF to close out the season, BYU was a major surprise in college football last year, largely led behind the play of quarterback Zach Wilson who was the No. 2 NFL Draft pick this past year.

Head Coach: Kalani Sitake enters his 6th season with the Cougars, and is coming off his best season yet. Sporting a 38-26 record, Sitake has built a solid program, and once again should have a talented squad in 2021.

Key Returners/ Starters:

Offense

While the Cougars get the quarterback position situated between Jaren Hall, Baylor Romney, and Jacob Conover, whoever is under center is going to have a deep and talented receiving corps to throw to, starting with players like incoming transfer Puka Nacua (Washington), Neil Pau’u, Gunner Romney, and tight end Isaac Rex.

At running back, they will be just fine as they have two talented and capable runners in Tyler Allgeier who ran for over 1,000 yards last year, and Lopini Katoa.

Outside of quarterback being the biggest position to settle for BYU, the Cougars will also need to settle a couple of things along the offensive line.

Defense

In short, the Cougars lose a lot from a defense that finished inside the Top 10 last year. BYU will have to replace seven of its top 10 tacklers, but they should still have some talent especially with the return of Linebacker Keenan Pili, Linebacker Max Tooley, Defensive Lineman Caden Haws, and Defensive Back Micah Harper.

Key Losses: 

QB – Zach Wilson (Drafted)
WR – Dax Milne (Drafted)
OT – Brady Christiansen (Drafted)
DT – Khyiris Tonga (Drafted)
LB – Isaiah Kaufusi (UDFA Signing)
DT – Zac Dawe (UDFA Signing)
DT – Bracken El-Bakri (Graduated)
LB – Zayne Anderson (UDFA Signing)

Key Injuries: 

BYU

• N/A

Arizona 

• WR- Jamarye Joiner (Foot) – Will be out the first three weeks as he recovers from surgery.

Game Information: 

When: Saturday, September 4th, 2021

Time: 7:30 PM (MST)/6:30 PM (PST)

Watch: ESPN, FuboTV 

Where: Allegiant Stadium – Las Vegas, NV (65,000)

Overall Series Record: 12-11-1 Arizona. This one has been neck and neck, with the Cougars winning the last two match-ups. Arizona’s last win came back in 2008 in the Las Vegas Bowl.

Last Meeting vs. Arizona: BYU has won two straight in this series, and is coming off a win in 2018 when they beat the Wildcats 28-23 in Tucson.

My Prediction: Too early to call, especially with so many questions needing to be answered for both teams. However, I have to think BYU has a slight advantage at this point.