For those who care to remember, the Cougars were very close to coming away from Tucson with a loss last October, needing two overtime periods on top of a fairly miraculous fumble recovery from offensive lineman Kyle Sfarcioc to take the 33-27 win.

While some BYU fans may well have forgotten just how tough the game versus the Wildcats proved to be, Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita certainly has not.

The senior quarterback, who is generally regarded as the top signal-caller in the entire Big 12 Conference, has widely mentioned just how forward he’s been looking to the matchup versus BYU this season. And given just how productive Fifita has proved over his career, his play on top of the added revenge motivation could certainly pose a problem.

“He’s the same guy. He’s always efficient, and he’s his football IQ is really impressive,” said BYU coach Kalani Sitake regarding what he’s observed of Fifita during his weekly press conference. “The things that he can do on the field, and he can do it with his legs, too, but he’s got such a strong arm and just the knowledge of where to go with the ball. So, it’s going to be really hard to to confuse him, because he doesn’t get confused easily.”

The best way to confuse an opposing quarterback is often through providing a strong and consistent pass rush to disrupt the timing involved in producing a prolific passing attack. Garnering a few sacks in between is also a big benefit, and although the Cougars recorded just one official sack last week versus the Trailblazer, more blitz packages are certain to be thrown Fifita’s way come Saturday. Of course stopping the run game and forcing passing situations will also prove a benefit according to Sitake.

“We have to find ways to disrupt their passing game and disrupt the run game,” Sitake said. ” … They have a a physical line. They have a few running backs in their core that can they can actually run the ball and and can punish you, and so they can be game-breakers. So, that combined with the with the receivers that they have … those guys can do with the ball in their hands. So, they’re they’re difficult.”

Complicating matters in defending Fifita and Arizona’s arsenal will be complicated to at least some degree with the loss of starting safety and Raider Damuni. The senior Timpview product had to be helped off the field late in the second quarter during last week’s win with an apparent knee injury that appeared to be serious with Sitake remarking as much during his postgame interview.

The bad news is that Damuni won’t be recovering in time to take on Arizona, but should be back at some point during the season.

“I think I asked on Saturday for a miracle, and we got one, you know? Raider is going to be able to play this year … He’ll be able to heal, and hopefully we can get him back as soon as possible,” Sitake said.

Replacing Damuni will be sophomore Tommy Prassas who is a player coaches have a lot of confidence in to the point where he was able to break into the rotation as a true freshman.

“I’d love to have (Damuni) this weekend, you know, especially against Noah Fifita, but Tommy’s ready for this moment,” Sitake said. “Tommy’s been a guy that started for us before, and he’s worked really hard, and he’s been mentored by Raider. And so, I think he and Faletau (Satuala) are going to be good, and then we’re going to need Kennan Pula and Jarinn Kalama to be ready to roll, too.”

Both Pula, who is a first-year freshman, and Kalama, who is a redshirt sophomore, are short on playing experience, but will now have to accelerate their respective abilities as BYU’s primary backup options.

“We have a lot of talent there at the safety position, and I feel good about their abilities,” Sitake concluded. “This is going to be a lot of fun to see them play, and for Tommy to have his opportunities. And we still need Raider, who’s a leader for our team … He can’t be on the field making plays, but he can be on the sidelines, and he can be in the classroom, and he can be here helping these guys out. We still need his leadership until he’s ready to get back on the field, and we hope that’s going to be sooner than later.”