Inside The Wildcats

Social Media Reacts After Arizona’s Double OT Loss to BYU

See what fans had to say about Arizona's win/loss to BYU online.
Nathaniel Martinez|
Oct 4, 2025; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Arizona Wildcats head coach Brent Brennan looks up at the scoreboard during the first quarter of the game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at Arizona Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images
Oct 4, 2025; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Arizona Wildcats head coach Brent Brennan looks up at the scoreboard during the first quarter of the game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at Arizona Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images | Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images

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Arizona Wildcats

The Arizona Wildcats fell at home to the No. 18-ranked BYU Cougars in a double overtime thriller 33-27, marking the fifth consecutive loss to their longtime rivals.

One big question for Arizona coming into this game was whether or not it could match BYU in physicality and if it could force Bear Bachmeier to make freshman mistakes.

Oct 11, 2025; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Arizona Wildcats ZonaZoo celebrates a touchdown made during the first quarter of the game against the Brigham Young Cougars at Arizona Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images | Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images

The next big question before the start of the game was whether or not it would be delayed due to the threat of remnants of Hurricane Priscilla hitting the city of Tucson.

Despite reports of heavy downpour in certain areas of the city, Arizona Stadium hadn't seen any rain and the game was good to go for regular kickoff time.

First quarter

Arizona's defense started out promising by forcing a three-and-out at the Cougars' own 30-yard line. The Wildcats did the same on their opening drive on offense,

BYU treaded down the field on the next drive, going eight plays for 66 yards. The drive was finished off with a 28-yard touchdown run by LJ Martin.

Oct 11, 2025; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Arizona Wildcats wide receiver Kris Hutson (4) celebrates a touchdown he made during the first quarter of the game against the Brigham Young Cougars at Arizona Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images | Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images

Running back Kedrick Reescano had a nice run to start Arizona's next drive, but it stalled out after that and the Wildcats were forced to punt and pinned the Cougars at the 5-yard line. The offense started slowly because the BYU defense was swarming and not allowing any big plays, while the wide receivers struggled to secure the ball properly.

All it took was three plays for BYU to put seven more points on the board as Bachmeier found Parker Kingston for the 75-yard passing touchdown, making it a 14-0 football game early in the first quarter.

Things started shaky on Arizona's next drive with two consecutive dropped balls on the first two plays, but the offense was able to settle in and trudge down the field. The drive was eventually capped off with a touchdown pass from Fifita to Kris Hutson to shorten the Wildcats' deficit to 14-7 with 32 seconds left in the first quarter.

Before the second quarter could get rolling, the game was delayed due to lightning in the area. Not long after that, it started to pour heavily, forcing fans to take shelter inside the stadium.

Second Quarter

After about an hour and 15 minutes of waiting, the game finally went back underway. Before the delay, BYU had the ball on 2nd and 4.

The Cougars couldn't get anything going on their drive and gave the ball back around midfield after a failed fake punt attempt. Arizona marched down to the BYU 6 before the drive stalled out, leaving the Wildcats to have to settle for a field goal, making it 14-10 with 9:32 remaining in the half.

The Wildcats ran six passing plays in that drive after the Cougars' starting nose tackle was ejected for a targeting call on Fifita, leaving some baffled at the choice of play calling.

BYU's next drive was promising, but it was eventually stopped and the attempted field goal kick was wide to the left, leaving Arizona with a shot at taking the lead with just over two minutes remaining in the game.

The offense did not disappoint, as Fifita threw a deep ball to Chris Hunter, putting the Wildcats up 17-14 with a minute and a half remaining in the quarter.

Treydan Stukes came up big for the defense, intercepting Bachmeier to give Arizona one more shot at putting some more points on the board before the end of the half with 18 seconds remaining and three timeouts.

Third Quarter

The Wildcats got within five yards of scoring on BYU to start the half, but a bad pass by Fifita on 4th and 4 caused an interception, giving BYU the ball back at the 4-yard line with seven minutes to play in the quarter.

The Arizona defense stood firm yet again and forced BYU to punt from its own 4-yard line, giving the Wildcats lofty field position at their 43.

BYU was driving down the field after both teams exchanged drives that failed to go anywhere, until disaster struck for the Cougars. A bad snap over the head of Bachmeier turned into an interception. Dalton Johnson came up with the turnover, which was the first for him since 2023.

Fourth quarter

The Wildcats would not let that turnover go to waste, making two third-down conversions and scoring a touchdown on a fourth and short. All Kedrick Reescano needed was a yard and he took 36 all the way to the endzone, making it a 24-14 game with 11:14 left in the game.

BYU got the ball back and took seven minutes to march down the field and end the drive with a field goal to make it 24-17 with four minutes remaining in the game. BYU's clock management was questioned following that drive.

BYU had one more chance to either tie the game or take the lead as Arizona was forced to punt on its final drive of the game.

BYU got to within four yards of the endzone and capped the drive off with a touchdown by Bachmeier after a pass interference call on Michael Dansby moved the offense closer to the line.

Arizona opted to take a knee with 19 seconds and two timeouts left for the game to go into overtime at 24 apiece. Brent Brennan was criticized online for not taking the chance of at least getting into position to kick a field goal.

Overtime

BYU won the toss and elected to play defense first, giving Arizona a shot at scoring first. Reescano was able to find the endzone, but a holding call on Chubba Ma'ae took it back.

Michael Salgado-Medina kicked the field goal two plays later to make it a 27-24 game. The Arizona defense didn't let BYU move, forcing it to kick a field goal to make it 27-27 and forcing a second overtime.

Arizona had the chance to put points on the board to continue the game, but BYU stood tall on fourth down, ending the thrilling game as Arizona fell 33-27.

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Nathaniel Martinez
NATHANIEL MARTINEZ

Nathaniel Martinez and a set of shoulder pads at 7 years old. He later graduated from Pima Community College in 2023, where he began writing for the Pima Post. He is working to achieve a Bachelor’s in Mass Communication and Media Studies.