Arizona Drops Road Battle at No. 15 BYU, 28-17

Saturday, September 12

Provo, Utah / LaVell Edwards Stadium

12:30 PM MST

University of Arizona

1-1 , 0-1

BYU

2-0 , 1-0

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Arizona	10	7	0	0	17
BYU	7	7	7	7	28

Photo by: Mike Christy / Arizona Athletics

09/12/2026 | Football

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By: John Coon / Associated Press

PROVO, Utah (AP) — The Arizona Wildcats (1-1, 0-1) dropped their opening road game of the season on Saturday afternoon in Provo, a 28-17 loss to the No. 15 BYU Cougars (2-0, 1-0).

Noah Fifita threw for 230 yards and a touchdown and ran for another to lead the Wildcats. Arizona (1-1, 0-1) was shut out after halftime after scoring on three of its first six drives.

Bachmeier threw a pair of short touchdown passes to Kyler Kasper to help BYU take a 28-17 lead with 6:10 left. Arizona had a shot at a go-ahead score following Kasper's first TD, but Rodney Gallagher III was tackled short of the marker at the BYU 17 on 4th down.

Fifita completed 6 of 7 passes on Arizona's opening drive and capped it by scrambling 11 yards for a touchdown. BYU tied it on a 6-yard run by Bachmeier after Cade Uluave returned an interception to the Arizona 9-yard line.

The Cougars took their first lead at 14-10, early in the second quarter when Reggie Frischknecht took a short pass over the middle 25 yards for his first career collegiate TD.

The Wildcats moved back in front 17-14 before halftime when Fifita found Shane King on a 16-yard pass.

Fifita was efficient at moving the chains throughout the first half. He made clean reads and enough big plays to keep BYU's defense off balance. The Wildcats held the ball 21 1/2 minutes in the first half while mounting two long scoring drives totaling 22 combined plays.

BYU dialed up the defensive pressure as the game progressed. The Cougars allowed minus-2 rushing yards after halftime and had back-to-back sacks on Fifita in the fourth quarter.