Weird things have happened to Arizona in Salt Lake City in recent years. In 2022, an unbeaten Wildcats squad fresh off a dominant performance at the Maui Invitational laid an egg against Utah, and two years later the UA needed triple overtime to get past the Utes.
Arizona
Brent Brennan Has Arizona Wildcats on Alert After Surprising Week 0 Results
Arizona was able to sit back and watch the opening weekend of the college football season.
When all the action was done, they probably let out a sigh of relief that they were home instead of playing in one of the four games that showcased schools across different levels of the sport.
Before Week 0, the slate was largely looked upon as an appetizer since there wasn’t a single game projected to finish within a single-digit margin.
Instead, it delivered some surprising results.
First, the preseason ACC favorites, Florida State, were upset by Georgia Tech in a shocking game that has been the talk of the college football world since the walk-off field goal went through the uprights.
That was followed by FCS program Montana State getting dominated as double-digit favorites by Arizona’s upcoming opponent, New Mexico, before mounting a late 17-point fourth quarter comeback.
Massive favorites SMU and Hawaii were also pushed a bit during their contests, something that was unexpected.
So, as the Wildcats get ready to take the field in Week 1 against New Mexico, head coach Brent Brennan is making sure his players took notice about what occurred over the weekend, and what can happen if they don’t come ready to play.
“It’s definitely something we talk about. Every game is a different game, and it’s all about how you prepare, and what your mindset is going into it. I don’t know why those things happened the way they did on Saturday, but credit to those teams that either pressed those teams to the edge or, when it comes to Georgia Tech, found a way to get it done,” he said at his weekly press conference.
Brennan thinks they benefited by being able to watch the Lobos take on Montana State, since it gave him and his team an idea about what they should expect when these two teams face off on Saturday.
“They look like they play hard. They’re definitely creative defensively, and offensively they’ve got some weapons. I feel like they were one catch away from it being over. They’re going to be ready to play,” he said.
So how can Arizona avoid the fate of Florida State, or almost being upset like the other big favorites in Week 0?
“My message to the team is, it’s all about us. It’s about our process and how we prepare. It’s very, very simple, it’s boring and it’s not sexy … It’s about us and this football team and how we go about our business this week preparing for this game, and then how we show up on Saturday,” he added.
That’s certainly the right mindset to have.
This is a game Arizona should dominate if they are truly going to contend for a Big 12 Conference title, let alone a spot in the College Football Playoff.
Whether that happens or not will be determined on Saturday.
For a more in depth preview of this matchup, click here.
On today’s Digital Pregame Show presented by Little Caesars, J.B Long, D’Marco Farr, and Maurice Jones-Drew preview the Los Angeles Rams’ Week 18 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals at SoFi Stadium. The trio discuss key players to watch, game predictions, and more. Tune in for kickoff at 1:25pm PT on FOX.
Arizona State is bringing in Kentucky transfer quarterback Cutter Boley after he played 10 full games as a redshirt freshman in 2025, FootballScoop’s John Brice first reported with SunDevilSource’s Chris Karpman confirming.
He gives the Sun Devils a signal-caller with three years of eligibility who had major flashes as a young starter in the SEC, including a career-high 330 yards and five touchdown passes on 74.3% passing against Tennessee on Oct. 25.
The 6-foot-5, 220-pound Boley had 2,160 yards (65.8%), 15 touchdown passes and 12 interceptions on the season with 85 rushing yards and two scores on the ground.
He was expected to take a two-day visit beginning on Saturday, but he committed before getting to the second day.
ASU head coach Kenny Dillingham extended an offer to Boley as a high school junior while he was the 24th quarterback in the 2024 class and the coach was serving as offensive coordinator at Oregon.
Dillingham took more of an active role in the offense during the Sun Bowl on Wednesday, and he said postgame recent changes in administration have allowed him to focus more on football. It would make sense the active role carries over to the development of Boley.
He gets to ASU after the departure of Sam Leavitt, who has fittingly been linked to Kentucky in what could be a 1-for-1 transfer swap of quarterbacks.
More about ASU transfer QB addition Cutter Boley
The youngest SEC quarterback to get substantial time this season, Boley played mostly as a game manager with quick passes behind or near the line of scrimmage.
His six big-time throws — tracked by PFF as passes with “excellent ball location and timing, generally thrown further down the field and/or into a tight window” — were tied for last among 15 qualified SEC passers.
His 18 turnover-worthy plays, another PFF-tracked stat, were tied for fourth out of 15.
Comparing the stats to ASU’s quarterbacks this season, Leavitt had 18 big-time throws and 12 turnover-worthy plays in seven games. Jeff Sims had eight big-time throws and nine turnover-worthy plays in eight contests.
Because he has three years of eligibility remaining, Boley could eventually have to compete with young ASU quarterbacks Cam Dyer and Jake Fette, who will be redshirt and true freshmen, respectively, in 2026.
No such drama this time around.
Top-ranked Arizona jumped out to a 17-point lead before the second media timeout and then coasted to a 97-78 win at Utah on Saturday afternoon to open Big 12 play.
The Wildcats (14-0, 1-0) saw their streak of wins by at least 20 points end at eight, tying the school record set in 1928-29. But the victory was no less dominant than the previous seven, with the UA shooting 53.6 percent, finishing plus-13 on the boards and again getting five scorers in double figures.
Tobe Awaka and Jaden Bradley led the way with 18 points apiece, Awaka going 6 of 7 from the field and 2 for 2 from 3 while adding 12 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. Bradley was 7 of 11 from the field and added five assists.
Brayden Burries and Koa Peat each scored 17 and Ivan Kharchenkov added 13 for Arizona, which scored in the 90s for the 10th time this season including eight of the last nine games.
Utah (8-6, 0-1) got 26 points from Terrence Brown and 15 each from Keanu Dawes and Don McHenry but shot 44.3 percent overall and just 5 of 17 from 3. The Utes turned it over 12 times, leading to 18 points for the Wildcats, who had 11 steals for their seventh game with at least 10 swipes.
The UA led 58-39 at halftime, its most points in the first half of a conference game since dropping 63 on ASU in 1998. That offensive explosion did not immediately carry over to the second half, though, as Arizona didn’t make its first post-halftime field goal until 17:06 left.
But then things went back to normal, with an 8-0 run to extend the lead to 70-46 with 13:56 to go. Utah followed with a 12-3 run to get within 15 but that was the closest it would get.
The only real drama down the stretch was if Arizona would again win by 20. It led by 21 after a Burries basket with 51 seconds remaining but Bradley fouled Utah’s Brown with 49.8 seconds to go in order to let backups come in and Brown made two free throws.
Utah scored the game’s opening basket and then Arizona followed with 14 in a row, which included a few baskets off Ute turnovers. Six of those points were byKharchenkov, who scored twice off steals.
The rout appeared to be on early, withAwakanailing a 3 to put the Wildcats up 27-10 with 12:16 left in the first half. But the UA went three minutes without a field goal, allowing Utah to cut the deficit to single digits.
A second-chance 3 by Brown got the Utes within 34-26 with 7:49 left in the half. But Arizona righted the ship on both ends, using a 10-0 run (with another Awaka 3) to build a 46-28 advantage. The Wildcats made their final six shots before the break, shooting 61.1 percent overall in the first half.
The UA plays its Big 12 home opener Wednesday against Kansas State. K-State (9-5, 0-1) fell 83-73 at home to No. 10 BYU on Saturday.
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