Hello everyone, here is the game thread for tonight as Arizona opens Big 12 play on the road in Salt Lake City against Utah.

It remains unclear if it will be Cam Rising or Isaac Wilson under center for the Utes. Either way, it will be a tough game for the Wildcats in a tough environment coming off their bye week.

Arizona will be looking to prove it remains a top contender in the Big 12 facing the current favorite in the conference.

GAME INFO

Who: Arizona (2-1) at No. 10 Utah (4-0, 1-0)

Kickoff: 7:15 p.m. (MST)

Where: Rice-Eccles Stadium | Salt Lake City, Utah

TV and channels: ESPN

Radio: 1290 AM | XM: 81, 381

All-time series: Utah leads 25-20-2

Odds: Utah (-8), O/U (47)

Login to view embedded media
Login to view embedded media
Arizona has landed a late-night commitment from Chandler High safety Hamisi Juma this evening. The 6-foot-4 prospect, who previously was at Tolleson, picked the Wildcats over early offers from Arizona State, NAU, Colorado State and UNLV. He is the second commitment for UA in the 2026 class alongside offensive lineman Michael Langi.

Login to view embedded media

Coming off of a much needed bye week, Arizona looks to bounce back from a 31-7 loss to No. 23 Kansas State and address it's early season inefficiencies that have hindered the team's performance through the first three games. This week, the Wildcats face arguably their biggest challenge of the season as they'll head on the road this weekend to Salt Lake City to take on No. 10 Utah and open up Arizona's first conference season as part of the Big 12.

Each team knows each other fairly well as former Pac 12 league mates from 2011-2023 and the Utes will look to avenge their loss last year to the Wildcats in a game Arizona dominantly won 42-18. This effort snapped a six-game losing streak that stretched all the way back to 2016.

It could potentially be overblown, but there's been speculation on if the garbage time touchdown pass to star receiver Tetairoa McMillan in the final minute of the game may have caused some lingering frustration to Kyle Whittingham's group, fueling a little extra motivation for the Utes heading into this year's rematch.

While the game's spread is currently listing Utah as eight-point favorites, the margin has shifted all week and could potentially tighten more as Saturday approaches.

Both Arizona and Utah are coming into this matchup with something to prove, and here are three players from each team to keep an eye out for on Saturday.

Arizona

OT Rhino Tapa'atoutai - stats vs. Kansas State: 65 snaps

It's safe to say that really none of Arizona's offensive lineman had good games against KSU and most of that can be attributed to the fact it was the Wildcats first matchup against a Power-4 conference defensive line so the physicality brought at the position is definitely a sizable difference compared to New Mexico and NAU.

Now that the Wildcats were able to take great experience out of the game in Manhattan and have a bye week to look into the details, expect Arizona's o-line to show up more prepared against a cerebral Utes defensive front.

That Utah defensive front just so happens to be lead by star defensive end Van Fillinger who is leading the Big 12 in sacks with 5.5 and that's good for second in FBS.

When Arizona takes on Utah all eyes should be on how the Wildcats contain Fillinger and he'll most likely line up on the left side that is manned by redshirt freshman left tackle Rhino Tapa'atoutai.

If Tapa'atoutai was going to be tested as a young player who is starting his first season, it's certainly this game where Fillinger is one of the best pass rushers in the Big 12 and one of the better talents Tapa'atoutai will have to block against.

There isn't much tape on Tapa'atoutai still as he left midway through the New Mexico game with injury after having a solid showing, sat out the NAU game while healing, and then coming back to face K-State but playing a second straight game healthy is good for him as he stacks more experience and there's no better game to prove himself in.

LB Jacob Manu - stats vs. Kansas State: six tackles

The entire defense from a run stopping perspective was not great at all allowing 235 yards on the ground to Kansas State and this has honestly been an issue dating back to the New Mexico game where the Lobos ran for 211 yards on Arizona.

While this is a combination of opposing running backs and mobile quarterbacks having success, it culminates in a weakness defensively that can be exploited anytime someone plays the Wildcats.

Linebacker Jacob Manu is someone who struggled against K-State and generally hasn't looked the same as his usual self coming from a player that was first team All-Pac-12 just a year removed from today. Angles of pursuit and wrapping up ball carriers have been areas Manu has thrived at in the past but has started slow in to begin 2024.

Going up to a hostile environment at Rice-Eccles Stadium and facing a top-30 rushing team with the leading FBS and Big 12 rusher is a challenge that'll show what kind of team the Wildcats want to be coming out of a bye week, and for the red and blue to have success against this rushing attack, Manu will have to step up as the leader he is and fly around Utah's football field.

WR Montana Lemonious-Craig - stats vs. Kansas State: six catches, 75 receiving yards, 12.5 yards per reception

As Arizona continues it's search for someone other than McMillan to step up and take some of the pressure off of the No. 1 receiver, Montana Lemonious-Craig had a solid game against KSU will plenty of room to build upon it.

Lemonious-Craig's six catches and 75 yards were the most in each category since his career-best performance in 2022 where he caught eight passes for 119 receiving yards and a touchdown to help the Colorado Buffaloes win their only game that season.

Coming off easily his best performance as a Wildcat, Lemonious-Craig had a bye week to truly hone in on his skills and build off of a nice game going to Utah.

Both of the Utes' boundary cornerbacks are listed at 6-foot-2 and 6-foot-1 with Zemaiah Vaughn and Elijah Davis respectively, so the size matchup between these defenders and Arizona's top-two receivers will be a slugfest worth watching.

Utah

WR Dorian Singer - stats vs. Oklahoma State: seven receptions, 95 receiving yards

Former All-Pac-12 receiver with Arizona in 2022, receiver Dorian Singer has come a long way from that season in which he racked up 66 catches for 1,105 receiving yards and six touchdowns.

Singer enjoyed an impressive campaign with the Wildcats and transferred to USC with an opportunity to catch passes from former Trojan heisman winner and now No. 1 overall draft pick to the Chicago Bears, Caleb Williams. This wasn't the best for him production wise as he only logged 24 catches for 289 receiving yards (22.2 rec. yards per game) along with three touchdowns.

After a disappointing stint with Southern California he transferred again to Utah and has caught a rhythm each of the last two weeks hauling in five passes for 66 yards against Utah State along with seven catches for 95 yards against Oklahoma State.

Utah's offense has a great amount of talent and while a Whittingham runs the ball a lot, look for Singer to have another high-volume game as a change of pace player.

RB Micah Bernard - stats vs. Oklahoma State: 25 carries, 182 rushing yards, 7.3 yards per carry

A sixth-year senior, running back Micah Bernard has been electric for Utah as the primary option for the first time in his career in a Utah offense that likes to run the football and is coming off of a career-high 182 rushing yards against the Cowboys.

Bernard has dealt with some injuries during his career that have hindered his ability and even forced him to miss all but two games last year, but to start 2024 he is off to the races with a Big 12 and FBS leading 456 rushing yards so far and is on pace to shatter his career-high of rushing yards which is 533 that he racked up in 2022.

He is sure to be heavily involved once more facing an Arizona defense that allows 172.7 rushing yards a game and has given opposing teams lots of success on the ground and coming out of the bye week is still figuring things out along it's defensive line.

CB Smith Snowden - stats vs. Oklahoma State: two tackles, three pass breakups

When you think of the Utes defense, offensive coordinator Dino Babers said it best when pointing out their "experience," but cornerback Smith Snowden is one of the younger starters and has really turned that next gear as of late.

Snowden played in 11 games last season only garnering seven tackles, but starting every game so far in 2024 as Utah's nickel corner he's accumulated 15 tackles with three for loss along with four passes defended and an interception.

All of his plays on the ball have occurred in each of the last two games against Utah State and Oklahoma State and with that should be an intriguing player to keep an eye on as Arizona continue to attempt getting a variety of other pass catchers involved.

Should receivers like Reymello Murphy or Jeremiah Patterson get more involved in the slot, they'll line up across a good player in Snowden.

Login to view embedded media
Troy and I took some time to look back at the loss to Kansas State for Arizona and assess where things stand now as the Wildcats head into the Week 5 matchup with No. 10 Utah.

Arizona football sits with a 2-1 record in the midst of it's early season bye week and the assessment so far of the performance is a mixed bag of many things. With a coaching staff change bringing Brent Brennan in from San Jose State, there were bound to be some growing pains and while those are definitely evident on the field, Wildcats fans are hoping things will get clicking sooner rather than later.

The Wildcats have seen signs of optimism in different areas through three weeks but the only problem has been sustaining that positive play. The season opener against New Mexico showcased an explosive element from the Arizona offense that demonstrated it was one of the best in the nation and had the ability to hang with any team in the country. That 61-point, 627 yard game from offensive coordinator Dino Babers' group looks so far like a flash in the pan as they have not come close to replicating that type of production putting up half of that yardage in the NAU and KSU games with a combined 29 points since week 1.

On defense it is a similar story as to open the season Arizona's defense looked all over the place and in that allowed 39 points and 471 yards to the Lobos in a shocker that had fans severely worried about the upcoming contests. The Wildcats however bounced back defensively in week 2 allowing 10 points and just under 200 total yards to NAU. It was that rally on defense that arguably won the game for Arizona as the offense heavily struggled to sustain drives.

Week 3 against Kansas State brought each of the Wildcats greatest weaknesses and put them all on display in what was a commanding 31-7 victory for KSU where Arizona looked sluggish and allowed the other Wildcats to do whatever they wanted to.

That's why the bye week comes at an opportune time for the Wildcats to flush out the loss and negative plays and get back to the drawing board.

Here are the areas of struggle plaguing Arizona to start to 2024 campaign.

Lack of offensive rhythm

Having the ability to play lights out offense isn't something that is out of the realm of possibilities for this Arizona team. They proved that in week 1 but just haven't been able to return to form in that sense again yet. While it's unrealistic to expect quarterback Noah Fifita and co. to go out and score 50-60 points every single week, it's realistic seeing that capability to at least score a couple touchdowns a game and stay in it when the defense is playing sound as well.

There are a couple factors to point at as to why this has been an issue in the early part of the season such as major injuries along the offensive line making the lineup nearly different every week, receivers not named Tetairoa McMillan still coming along, but most importantly the play calling has been a big part of the mishaps.

It feels like Dino Babers calls a different philosophy each week and that's led to the team not really having an offensive identity. Against New Mexico it was extremely pass heavy, he called a run dominant game in the NAU game and then Kansas State was probably the most balanced he's called the offense before things got out of hand and the Wildcats had to pass because of negative game script. The rhythm is simply not visible yet and that'll be a big development going forward with No. 12 Utah on the horizon.

The under utilization of the tight ends

Back in training camp, maybe the biggest talking point from what Arizona was showing to the people in attendance was the heavy involvement of the tight end position. Whether it was Keyan Burnett who especially flashed, Roberto Miranda, or San Jose State transfer Sam Olsen, each of them looked like good players and like they could potentially be key players going into the season.

It's worth noting that Babers wasn't Brennan's play caller at San Jose State but in Brennan's final year with the program three tight ends combined for 49 receptions for 673 receiving yards and five touchdowns with Olsen playing a huge role in that. In three games at UA Burnett, Olsen, and Tyler Powell have combined for seven catches and 79 receiving yards.

It looked as if the tight end would be heavily involved in the Wildcats offense in camp and the production on the field just hasn't reciprocated for all that effort put into them in preparation for the season. The involvement of more tight ends, particularly the highly athletic Burnett could prove valuable for this offense.

Run defense allowing big holes

Let alone the NAU game that might be an outlier, Arizona's defense has not been able to stop the run at all. Whether it's scrambling quarterbacks or a running back that can see the hole, the Wildcats defenders are left in pursuit mode as the ball carrier takes a huge gain down field.

Rushing quarterbacks have especially hurt UA's defense as seen in UNM's Devon Dampier who ran for 130 yards and two touchdowns along with KSU's Avery Johnson who rushed for 110 yards last Friday. The pinpoint problem here is a little harder to navigate as there are many variables that go into stopping a quarterback when he gets his legs churning but each of the following could be improved upon.

The Wildcats need better contain off of the edge first and foremost. When a passer looks to takeoff, it is either around the edge of the offensive line or right through it as a gap opens up and Arizona has been particularly gashed when a quarterback rolls out. Rolling out is really tough to defend because containing the quarterback too close as a coverage player can allow the big play over their heads while playing to far back can allow the field general to scamper for a decent gain. That's why the edge rushers on the team desperately have to play their contain tighter to prevent the roll outs and if that doesn't work there are many athletic defenders on the team such as a Genesis Smith that could play a spy/overhang role when matched up against someone with legs.

Costly penalties on both sides of the ball

Anyone who has watched Arizona play so far has seen the sheer amount of penalties that have killed drives or extended them for the opposing team. The Wildcats have been called on at least nine penalties for 74 or more yards in every contest going all the way up to 95 and 100 in the NAU and UNM games respectively.

That amount of yardage is comparable to a skill player having a good or even great game for their team and that's inexcusable for a team with Big 12 Championship aspirations. Brennan would agree and he has even stated in press conferences that he "has to coach this team better" but that has yet to be seen on the football field.

Holdings and personal foul calls have been the primary suspects and one personal foul even had cornerback Tacario Davis ejected in week 1. These penalty losses make the Wildcats beat themselves and if there was an issue that needs prioritizing first, it's the penalty issue.

Offense and defense playing complimentary

One thing that Arizona football has yet to accomplish this season has been a "complete" or fundamentally sound football game and that's something that brought this team a lot of success in 2023. Yes, UA does have wins this season where one side of the ball significantly outperformed the other but that is not sustainable for a team that has immense expectations even for itself.

This has to be a focus for Coach Brennan in this bye week and in game preparation next week against No. 12 Utah because the last time the Wildcats when into a big test on the road they inflicted too many self-inflicted wounds to come out victorious and that showed as K-State dominated Arizona all game long.

Coaching up the offense, defense, and special teams to play cleanly and together is the recipe for success and the key to winning a big football matchup come week 5 in the college season.