The Arizona Wildcats meet the BYU Cougars Saturday in week 1 college football action at Allegiant Stadium. The BYU Cougars finished 11-1 last year and hope to win double-digit games two years in a row for the first time since 2008-09. The Arizona Wildcats finished 0-5 last season and will begin the Jedd Fisch coaching era.
The BYU Cougars averaged 43.5 points and 522.2 yards per game last season. BYU allowed an average of 15.3 points and 318 yards per game last season. Baylor Romney likely replaces Zach Wilson at quarterback after 35 pass attempts last season. Tyler Allgeier is back after leading BYU with 1,100 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns while Gunner Romney and Neil Pau’u combined for 1,300 receiving yards and six touchdowns. Defensively, Keenan Pili returns after 72 tackles, Tyler Batty had four sacks and Malik Moore had one interception. BYU was a title contender last season but has a lot of question marks this year with a new quarterback. BYU has playmakers on offense and plenty of returning production on defense, but the loss of Wilson does hurt and makes you wonder if the Cougars can build on last years efforts.
The Arizona Wildcats averaged 17.4 points and 369.4 yards per game last season. Arizona allowed an average of 39.8 points and 473 yards per game last season. Will Plummer returns at quarterback after 80 pass attempts behind Grant Gunnell. Michael Wiley had 200 rushing yards and three touchdowns while Stanley Berryhill III and Ma’jon Wright is a receiving duo that combined for 400 yards and four touchdowns. Defensively, Rhedi Short returns after leading Arizona with 30 tackles, Paris Shand had one sack and Anthony Pandy had two interceptions. Arizona should be better than it was last season with the bulk of its defense back and playmakers at wide receiver. However, Arizona has to find a reliable option at quarterback to really make a jump and Fisch has just two games under his belt as a head coach.
The Cougars are 1-3-1 ATS in their last 5 games on grass. The Wildcats are 0-5 ATS in their last 5 neutral site games and 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games overall. The under is 9-2 in Cougars last 11 vs. Pac-12. The under is 6-2 in Wildcats last 8 games overall. The Cougars are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 meetings.
BYU is still the better team in this matchup, but you shouldn’t expect the Cougars to come close to last years efforts. BYU has quarterback concerns and the defense may take a step back or two. The Arizona Wildcats are breaking in a new head coach, and while they have quarterback concerns as well, they’re loaded with offensive playmakers and should take a big step forward on defense. Despite the concerns, you can argue Arizona is one of the more underrated teams in the Pac-12. I’ll grab the points here.