SALT LAKE CITY — Well that’s one way for the Arizona Wildcats to begin the Big 12 era.
After stewing on a loss for two weeks, Arizona found its mojo at the most opportune time, upsetting the No. 10-ranked Utah Utes 23-10 Saturday night at Rice-Eccles Stadium for the UA’s Big 12 opener.
The triumph is Arizona’s first win over the Utes in Salt Lake City since 2014. Entering Saturday, Utah was 34-3 at home since 2018.
The Wildcats’ win, the first in Big 12 play, is the program’s first victory over a Top 10 team on the road since 2022, when they upset ninth-ranked UCLA.
Saturday also marked first-year Arizona coach Brent Brennan’s first win over a Top 10 opponent. Saturday was an “awesome night for our football team,” Brennan said.
“This is a really special win for our football team,” Brennan said. “I’ve coached in a lot of games here and I know how tough it is, I know what the environment is and I have the utmost respect for the University of Utah football team and Coach Kyle Whittingham. … I love this team. This was an awesome win for us.”
After giving up 31 unanswered points in its last road contest against Kansas State — and getting dominated at the line of scrimmage, Arizona’s defense established an aggressive and physical tone on defense.
Utah’s first two trips to the red zone resulted in two fourth-down stops by the UA defense, including a pass breakup by cornerback Tacario Davis — his first of the season after leading the Pac-12 with 15 last season — and nickel back Treydan Stukes, who left in the first half with an injury, stuffed Utes running back Mike Mitchell on the Arizona 11-yard line on the opening drive.
Utah named freshman Isaac Wilson, younger brother of NFL quarterback Zach Wilson, as the starter for the third straight game while seventh-year starter Cameron Rising continued to rehab a hand injury he suffered at Baylor earlier in the month.
Rising dressed out, participated in pregame warmups and was the captain for the coin toss, but Wilson received the nod and passed for 280 yards. Wilson’s top target was former Wildcat Dorian Singer, who ended the night with nine catches for 155 yards, his most productive game since his last season at the UA in 2022.
After surrendering 279 rushing yards to opposing quarterbacks, Wilson had minus-9 yards yards on Saturday. The Wildcats out-rushed the Utes 161 yards to 84.
Arizona’s offensive play-calling had more creativity and utilized more playmakers besides star wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan. Although McMillan had six catches for 50 yards, Arizona’s passing attack featured junior tight end Keyan Burnett, who had five catches for 76 yards and a touchdown, and slot receiver Jeremiah Patterson, who also scored a touchdown on Saturday.
Prior to the snap of Patterson’s 3-yard touchdown catch on third down, the junior-college transfer was lined up outside, motioned inside and ran his route towards the pylon for Arizona’s first touchdown of the night. Arizona running back Kedrick Reescano’s 36-yard run up the middle put the Wildcats at the Utah 11-yard line to set up Patterson’s touchdown.
Even though the Wildcats found the end zone twice on Saturday, kicker Tyler Loop kept extending Arizona’s lead with a three field goals, which tied a career-high. Loop had 47-, 53- and 33-yard field goals; his last one moved Arizona’s lead to two possessions, 16-3, entering the fourth quarter.
“Tyler Loop, what a great player he is. Holy smokes. … What a weapon, the ability to make kicks from that far out with confidence,” Brennan said.
While Arizona chipped away at its lead, the Wildcats’ defense continued to apply pressure on Wilson with their defensive line and blitzes by linebackers Jacob Manu and Taye Brown. Arizona had seven tackles for loss against Utah.
“I think we were getting after it a little bit more,” said Manu, who finished with eight tackles. “We were getting in the backfield more.”
Sophomore defensive back Genesis Smith, Stukes’ substitution at nickel back, intercepted Wilson in the third quarter. UA senior safety Gunner Maldonado also had an interception to seal the win for the Wildcats. Arizona also had eight pass breakups on Saturday. The Wildcats’ physical and handsy approach was “really important,” Manu said.
“I know they have a lot of good receivers on that team, so we couldn’t let them get the ball in their hands,” said the Arizona linebacker. “That was a big emphasis on the game plan.”
Added Brennan: “We do have great leadership (in the defensive secondary), whether it’s Stukes, Gunner and Dalton (Johnson) and those guys. It was great to see (Davis) smiling and having fun playing. … It’s a really fun group of kids. … It was nice to see that show up in a big-time game and a big-time moment like it did tonight.”
Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita’s interception resulted in Utah scoring its only touchdown of the night, which was set up by a 37-yard highlight catch by Singer. Wilson connected with tight end Caleb Lohner for a 20-yard touchdown to begin the fourth quarter.
Ahead 16-10 in the fourth quarter, with an amplified Rice-Eccles Stadium crowd, Fifita completed two critical third-and-11 passes. The first, a 41-yard dart over the middle to wide receiver Devin Hyatt. The second one was the ultimate knockout punch, a 35-yard heave on the run to the back of the end zone to Burnett, his first-career touchdown as a Wildcat, to take a 23-10 lead with just over eight minutes left to play.
“It means everything,” Burnett said of his touchdown. “It’s just a testament to my coaches and my team, Noah Fifita and my family.”
During a potential momentum-shifting possession, Fifita displayed “incredible poise” late in the fourth quarter, Brennan said.
“He’s a fierce competitor, so when he screws something up, he’s really upset,” Brennan said of Fifita. “But they scored that touchdown and he just comes up and executes at a high level and creates with his feet and finds someone down the field. … The kid is special in every way as a young man, as a teammate, as a leader and as a quarterback.”
And once again, Arizona forced another fourth-down stop — its fourth of the night — to regain possession and escape Salt Lake City with its biggest win of the season with the Big 12 home opener against Texas Tech (4-1) for a late-night matchup on Saturday at Arizona Stadium.
“I was proud with how they just kept believing in each other,” Brennan said. “Football is the best team game ever created in my opinion. As long as it’s not about you, as long as you’re playing for the guy next to you and not yourself all the time, you have a chance. I thought they did that so well tonight and I think it showed up in how we collectively played in all three phases.”
