Cougs Daily

Relentless Pressure is Key to Shutting Down Arizona Star Quarterback Noah Fifita

Casey Lundquist|
BYU linebacker Aisea Moa pressures Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita as BYU takes down the Wildcats 41-19
BYU linebacker Aisea Moa pressures Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita as BYU takes down the Wildcats 41-19 | BYU Photo

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BYU Cougars

Last year, the BYU defense put constant pressure on Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita. The relentless pressure forced Fifita into the worst game of his impressive college career.

Against BYU, Fifita threw three interceptions, a career high. He had four turnover-worthy plays, also a career high. He also had a career low quarterback rating.

Why did Fifita struggle so much against the BYU defense? Pressure. Fifita was pressured a career high 25 times. He had never been pressured more than 18 times, but against BYU, he was pressured 25 times. It's no coincidence that his worst passing performance came on the afternoon when he was pressured the most.

If BYU is going to go on the road and slow down Fifita again, they have to apply pressure like they did a season ago. Fifita has been great this season. He ranks 12th nationally in PFF passing grade among qualified quarterbacks. The one area where he has struggled is when he is under pressure. He has accounted for first downs on 18% of dropbacks when under pressure which ranks 115th nationally. The only problem? A lot of the players that were applying pressure in the BYU-Arizona game are no longer in the program. Only 36% of BYU's pressures in that game came from players that are on the roster in 2025.

BYU has had success pressuring opposing quarterbacks this season, but the most lethal pass rush has come from star linebackers Jack Kelly and Isaiah Glasker. Both Kelly and Glasker left last week's game against WVU due to injury and their status for the Arizona game is unknown. Glasker is more likely to play than Kelly at this point.

BYU might need other defensive playmakers like Keanu Tanuvasa, Hunter Clegg, and others to get after Noah Fifita.

Going into last year's BYU-Arizona game, Arizona was allowing 12.8 pressures per game. This year, Arizona is allowing 10.6 pressures per game. Teams have been able to get after Fifita - the Wildcats have already allowed 14 sacks this season which ranks 112th in the country. When Fifita is pressured, he has struggled to escape. He has been sacked on 22% of pressures which ranks 100th among qualified quarterbacks.

BYU will need to apply relentless pressure to slow down Arizona's dangerous passing attack. Last year, every Fifita mistake was directly linked to pressure.

Fifita's first interception was underthrown since he was under pressure. True freshman Viliam Po'uha beat his blocker to the inside and crushed Fifita as he threw the football.

Jakob Robinson had the second interception, and he also created the pressure that made the interception possible in the first place. Robinson came off the edge on a cornerback blitz. He jumped into the passing line, tipped Fifita's pass, and intercepted the football.

And the third interception? A result of - you guessed it - pressure. Isaiah Bagnah was in Fifita's face as he threw the pick-six to end the game.

Perhaps most importantly, those three interceptions turned into 21 points for the Cougars. That was the difference in the game.

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Casey Lundquist
CASEY LUNDQUIST

Casey Lundquist is the publisher and lead editor of Cougs Daily. He has covered BYU athletics for the last four years. During that time, he has published over 2,000 stories that have reached more than three million people.

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