There was no game last week for BYU as they were on their BYE week, so we have no game to recap. But we do have game to look forward to. During the BYE week, the hype and anticipation for BYU grew even more. BYU were still getting projected as possible winners of the Big 12 and top 4 seed in the college football playoff. BYU still jumped up 3 spots in the recent poll to #14 after a crazy upset filled weekend last weekend.
To add to the attention and hype of BYU, FOX Sports announced that their national pregame Saturday show, Big Noon Kickoff, is heading to Provo for the Arizona vs BYU game! Its FOX’s version of College Gameday on ESPN.
Big Noon Kickoff
Here is all the details that you need to know about Big Noon Kickoff. There are some legend players and coaches that are now part of the Big Noon Kickoff team like Matt Leinart, Brady Quinn, Mark Ingram II, and Urban Meyer. I have no doubt that Urban Meyer will “boo’ed” many times, maybe even every time he speaks.
He is a former Utah Utes coach and was there for only two seasons from 2003-2004, but went 10-2 his first season, and undefeated his second season. In his second season, Utah won the Fiesta Bowl, becoming the first team outside of the BCS conferences (remember the BCS?!) to do so. He then left to coach Florida in 2005 and we know how that went. He also never lost to BYU. Beating them in 2003 by a score of 3-0 and in 2004 by a score of 52-21.
He is also the coach who started the saying of Utah calling BYU the “team down south”. Its one thing to hate your rival, I get it, but you also have to have some respect for them. He is for sure getting boo’d and some of those boos may be coming from me, just saying.
Pregame Festivities Timing
The pregame tailgate will start at 6:30am MT with the show starting at 8am MT and ending at 10am MT. You can bring a sign to the show, like College Gameday, they’ll have free food and prizes, games, contests, special appearances, and much more. Its going to be an amazing time! BYU has hosted College Gameday before, but they have never hosted Big Noon Kickoff. Right after the show ends at 10am, Cougar Canyon will kick off at 10:30am with BYU’s own games, and fun activities to do. Its going to be a crazy, fun day for sure!
The last time BYU had a national pregame show come to Provo was in 2009. BYU played against TCU and both teams were ranked in the top 20. BYU lost by 31. Here’s to hoping that we change and play better this time with FOX’s pregame show!
Game Preview vs Arizona
I dont really know how to describe Arizona. One second, they look like a contending Big 12 team, and the next, they look like they might finish last. They are currently 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the Big 12. Arizona have lost to Texas Tech and beaten Utah. They did play Kansas St, but it was deemed a non conference game because it was already scheduled before Arizona joined the Big 12, and Arizona lost that game too. Arizona looked very good against Utah. They were on the cusp of coming into the Top 25 and then they lost to Texas Tech.
The Utah and Texas Tech games were a tale of two sides. They threw the ball for almost 200 yards and rushed for 165 yards, they won the turnover margin, and were stout on defense. All of those things basically flipped against Texas Tech. They lost the turnover margin, and gave up more than 300 yards total on defense, 214 passing and 117 rushing.
Arizona’s Offense
Talent wise, Arizona is stacks up well. Noah Fifita at QB is a sophomore who is off to a so so start with only 1,361 passing yards, 7 TDs, and 6 INTs. Quali Conley is a great senior RB averaging 84 rushing yards and 1 rushing TD a game. And Tetairoa McMillan is a Junior WR averaging 133 yards receiving a game and almost 1 receiving TD a game. McMillan can take over a game. He will be crucial for BYUs defense to control.
Arizona’s Defense
On defense, Arizona isnt as good as their offense, but they can still create some havoc. Taye Brown is a LB who is first in sacks and second in total tackles. Tre Smith is a DL who is third in total tackles and tied for second in sacks. These two guys will be important for BYU to track in terms of protecting the QB and now allowing any sacks. In their secondary, they have had a couple of injuries of guys who are out for the rest of the season.
Arizona had two key injuries in the game against Texas Tech. Senior DB Treydan Stukes and Senior S Gunnar Maldonado were both injured last game. Stukes suffered a torn ACL and Maldonado also had a knee injury that could knock him out for an extended period of time. These are both big losses for the Wildcats. Maldondo has been regarded as one of the best players on defense for Arizona. Look for BYU to pass early and if they see success, to keep throwing the ball.
Prediction
There is a lot of hype for BYU right now. Will this team fold into that hype and not show up? I dont know. I hope not. BYU has surpassed everything that I thought of them so far, so why not keep going with that trend with Big Noon Kickoff coming and a game that is featured on FOX in a primetime slot! I think BYU pulls it out, but there will be some jitters early that BYU will have to control.
BYU opened up as a 3.5 favorite. That has no gone up to 4.5. BYU will do just enough to keep Arizona at bay on defense and exploit the inexperienced secondary on offense. I think BYU wins this game by 4, by a score of 28-24.
Other BYU News
BYU will be at full strength at RB for the game against Arizona. LJ Martin is set to return to his starting role and Sione Moa is back from a hamstring injury. I am stoked for this. I think Martin is one of our best players on offense. We need him. But I am also excited to see Moa back. He provided a huge lift in the Kansas St game. Personally, I would have LJ Martin and Sione Moa take most, in not all, of the handoffs on Saturday.
Kody Epps will be out for the game against Arizona. He hasnt had a great season so far this year, but he is a speed threat on screens and short passes that the offense will not be able to use on Saturday against Arizona.
Connor Pay, senior starting C for BYU, broke his foot in the last game against Baylor. He had a pretty amazing story, that you definitely need to hear about what happened after he had the injury and what took place in the locker room. Here is the link on the story.
BYU Basketball Update
I would hate to not talk about the excitement of BYU basketball as well. BYU is now less than 30 days away from kicking off their season! ESPN just released their rankings and projections for the NBA draft and BYU has two players on it! Egor Demin is projected to go 11th and Kanon Catchings is projected to go 23rd. BYU rarely gets guys drafted high in the NBA draft with the exception of Jimmer, Shawn Bradley, Michael Smith, and a few others.
The last time that two BYU players were drafted in the NBA was 1984. And that was back when the NBA had 10 rounds. Now, they only have 2 rounds. Both of BYU’s players are projected to go in the first round.
The basketball season will start on November 5th against Central Arkansas. I have been looking at where college basketball analysts have this team ranked so far and the general consensus is around the #25-30 range. I think thats pretty fair. BYU was good last year, but they have a new head coach, a new system, but better players brought in. I am really curious to see how this season goes!
The last tidbit for BYU basketball is that this weekend is the biggest basketball recruiting weekend for BYU maybe ever? 5 star, and #1 overall recruit AJ Dybantsa and top 75, 4 star recruit JJ Mandaquit are both set to take their official visits together this weekend to BYU. BYU needs to make a good impression on these guys. They are both teammates right now at Utah Prep, and if BYU could get both of them together with the chemistry that they already have, that would be a dream come true.
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