Three Areas Arizona MUST Fix Ahead of Houston

In overtime, BYU went on to fight its way to an impressive 33-27 double overtime win over Arizona and keep its undefeated streak alive. The Wildcats had an opportunity to pull off the upset but fell flat in the last minutes of regulation, which led to the overtime loss.

Arizona’s defense had been solid against the run for most of the season through the first five games but against BYU, the Wildcats were gashed for 258 yards on the ground.

BYU running back LJ Martin was a nightmare for the Wildcats’ defense as he went off for 162 yards on 25 carries and found the end zone.

On the offensive side of the ball, Arizona was able to total 383 yards while rushing for 164 thanks to Kedrick Reescano, who managed to rack up 90 yards on 13 carries.

However, Arizona was able to get the ball with 19 seconds left and two timeouts and Brennan made the decision to take a knee to head into overtime.

That decision seemed strange given the situation of the game and the fact that Arizona was at its 25-yard line with a kicker that has made a 60-yard field goal this season.

In the end, Arizona was unable to come up with a stop in the second overtime where BYU was able to score a rushing touchdown.

On Arizona’s turn in the second overtime, the Wildcats couldn’t find the end zone and that was despite picking up a fourth down to extend the drive.

Fifita on the last play of the game barely overthrew receiver Javin Whatley in the left corner of the end zone to seal the win for BYU.

Now that the game has come to an end, we at Arizona Wildcats On SI have put together our three things the Wildcats need to fix before squaring off against Houston.

Three Things to Fix

Third Down Offense

• It was a struggle on third down for Arizona in Saturday's 33-27 double overtime loss against BYU as it went 4-for-17 on third down conversions. 

• In the Wildcats’ other loss this season against Iowa State, it also struggled on those conversions going 4-for-13. When facing a top-25 team like BYU, it is in those specific areas like third-down conversion rate where the Wildcats will need to improve upon to take the next step forward as a team.

Rushing Defense

• The Wildcats came into the game as the fourth best team in the Big 12 when it comes to defending the rush, while BYU had the second best offense on the ground in the conference.

• The Wildcats gave up an astounding 258 yards of rushing offense and allowed three touchdowns on the ground, while also allowing BYU to average 5.1 yards per carry.

• That amount of rushing yards is both a season high in yards allowed and average amount of yards per rush.

• Those numbers are a far cry from the 3.1 yards per rush allowed and 97.6 yards per game. Arizona will be facing a Houston team that is ranked ninth in the Big 12 as a rushing offense, so it will have a chance to bounce back and show that it can still shut teams down when it tries to run the ball on it.

Special Teams

• Against BYU, Arizona saw an improvement with kicker Michael Salgado-Medina, who hit a 24-yard and 23-yard field goal to help the Wildcats. Plus, the punt return game was solid with Luke Wysong making good decisions.

• However, the punting game left a lot to be desired with punter Isaac Lovison averaging 41.3 yards per punt on four attempts. However, on the last punt, Lovison hit it 44 yards and saw BYU return it 27 yards into Wildcats’ territory.

• Arizona needs to clean things up in the coverage team in order to not have that happen against Houston.