Turnovers threaten the Arizona Wildcats with a loss against the BYU Cougars

Buried by an exceptional BYU defense and their own mistakes, the Arizona Wildcats fell to the No. 14 Cougars 41-19 on Saturday at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah.

Arizona (3-3, 1-2 in the Big 12) lost its second straight Big 12 game in a contest where the Wildcats' mistakes again proved their undoing. Arizona had four turnovers and the Cougars turned them into 24 points.

The Wildcats were without defensive backs Treydan Stukes and Gunner Maldonado due to injuries. Arizona lost top linebacker Jacob Manu to a targeting call early in the game. Now Arizona has big questions across the board ahead of its home game against Colorado next week.

Quarterback Noah Fifita threw for 262 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions as well as a lost fumble. His final interception was picked off by BYU's Isaiah Glasker and returned for a touchdown with 1:02 left.

Wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan caught five passes for 78 yards, while Montana Lemonious-Craig caught the Wildcats' only touchdown. Running back Quali Conley had 39 yards and a touchdown on the ground. His goal came in the last three minutes of the game.

Arizona, trailing 34-19, forced a turnover with 2:37 left when Genesis Smith hit the ball against BYU running back Hinckley Ropati. But Arizona lost the ball on downs.

BYU (6-0, 3-0) achieved bowl eligibility in its second year in the Big 12 after a year-long absence. The Cougars also maintained a share of the lead in the conference standings.

Quarterback Jake Retzlaff threw for 218 yards and two touchdowns. Ropati and LJ Martin combined for more than 100 rushing yards in their return from injury. Wide receiver Chase Roberts was one of three Cougars to catch a touchdown pass.

This was their first meeting since a 24-16 win over Arizona in 2021. It was their first meeting as conference rivals since 1977, when both schools were in the WAC.

The game came down to Arizona's mistakes, including two critical, back-to-back turnovers by Fifita that helped give BYU a 24-hour lead.

On the first play of the second half, Fifita rolled to his right and attempted to throw a pass low. BYU's Jackob Robinson tipped the pass, picked it up and set up the Cougars' offense inside the Wildcats' 10-yard line. Retzlaff connected with Roberts on the first play of the drive for a touchdown.

On the next drive, Arizona managed two plays before Fifita made a mistake. He tried to avoid a tackle from Glasker, but he hurled the ball loose and the Cougars' Harrison Taggart recovered the ball at the Wildcat 15-yard line. BYU converted it into a 33-yard field goal by Will Ferrin.

The Wildcats tried to get back into the game, but two possible shots on goal resulted only in Tyler Loop field goals, the second of which gave BYU a 27-13 lead with 9:02 left in the fourth quarter.

BYU then closed the door with a long drive capped by Martin's 1-yard touchdown run.

In the first half, the Wildcats had a 7-0 lead after a long drive that ended with a 14-yard touchdown pass from Fifita to Lemonious-Craig with 3:27 left in the first quarter.

BYU tied the game when Retzlaff threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Parker Kingston with 13:35 left in the second quarter. On the next drive, Fifita drove the Wildcats to the Cougars' 28-yard line and then threw an interception to BYU's Tanner Wall near the goal line.

The Cougars drove the length of the field and took the lead with an impressive one-two trick play. Retzlaff threw to Kingston, who scored the earlier touchdown, and the left-handed receiver threw a touchdown pass down the field to Martin with 6:30 left in the first half, giving BYU a 14-7 lead.