Arizona vs BYU prediction & betting tips - October 12

The Arizona Wildcats go on the road to play the BYU Cougars on Saturday at 4 p.m. ET. The game can be seen on FOX.

Arizona (3-2, 1-1 Big 12) is coming off a 28-22 home loss to Texas Tech, while BYU (5-0, 2-0 Big 12) is ranked 14th and coming off a bye week, but before that, the Cougars beat Baylor 34-28 on the road.

Arizona vs BYU preview

Arizona is a five-point underdog, with the over/under set at 49.5 points. The Wildcats suffered a road loss to Texas Tech a week after pulling off an upset win over Utah.

Arizona is led by quarterback Noah Fifita who's thrown for 1,361 yards, seven touchdowns, and six interceptions. Although Fifita has had struggles this season, Arizona coach Brent Brennan isn't worried about that.

“I think we’ve played good people. When we’re talking about his process and his decision-making, I think there’s some things that we can fix, but I also think to me that’s coaching. We’re the ones that have to get him in the right place with his progression and delivering the ball on time. That’s on us," Brennan said, via AZDesertSwarm.

Heading into the game, Brennan believes that BYU poses a lot of problems to them, as the coach calls them a great football team.

“They’re a good football team. I think it’s an interesting situation where, coming into this conference, our last four games have all been against really good (teams). All (teams) that are one loss or better. And so going on the road, in a hostile environment, they’re extremely physical. They’re very well-coached. They play hard."

Defensively, Arizona is led by Genesis Smith who has two interceptions, and Jacob Manu leads the team with 42 tackles.

BYU, meanwhile, has been a surprise team this season. The Cougars areone of the favorites to win the Big 12. BYU is led by quarterback Jake Retzlaff who has thrown for 1,208 yards, 12 touchdowns and five interceptions.

Retzlaff has won the starting quarterback job and continued to keep it as he has led BYU to 5-0. The Cougars' offense is led by receiver Chase Roberts who has 336 receiving yards and two touchdowns, while Darius Lassiter has 235 receiving yards and three touchdowns.

Defensively, the Cougars are led by Jack Kelly who has three sacks, while Harrison Taggert leads the team with 25 tackles.

It should be a good game, but BYU is the real deal and at home, the Cougars should cruise to a win. Retzlaff should have success against Arizona's defense which has struggled at times.

BYU has also been a tough place to play this season. Fiifta could struggle and likely throw a pick or two, which could be the difference here as the Cougars get another win to improve to 6-0 on the season.

Prediction: BYU 28, Arizona 21

Arizona vs BYU: Betting Tips

Tip 1: BYU -5 (-112)

Tip 2: Under 49.5 (-110)

Tip 3: Jake Retzlaff over 1.5 passing touchdowns.

About the author

Cole is an NHL, NFL and College Sports reporter at Sportskeeda with over 7 years of experience writing for publications like CBC, USA Today, SMG, BJPENN, Sherdog and SB Nation.

An NHL fan his whole life, Cole played rep hockey in Canada from age 5 until 17 and grew up rooting for Martin St. Louis and the Tampa Bay Lightning. His all-time favorite players are Vincent Lecavalier and Steven Stamkos, while Jon Cooper is his favorite coach of all time.

Cole attended Sheridan College and received his journalism degree in 2019. After decades of watching and reporting, he considers his knowledge of sports as his primary strength. He ensures that the same story has been reported by at least two reputed reporters before creating it.

Cole enjoys playing golf and spending time with friends and family when not reporting breaking stories. His favorite sports moment is from the 2010 Olympics, when Sidney Crosby scored the golden goal in overtime to beat Team USA for the gold medal.

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