Beau Bachmeier threw for three touchdowns and ran for another as No. 15 BYU rallied past Arizona 28-17 in a Big 12 game on Saturday afternoon in Provo, Utah.
The Cougars (2-0, 1-0) pitched a shutout in the second half while outgaining Arizona 233-87 to rally from a 17-14 halftime deficit.
Bachmeier went 16 of 26 for 217 yards and three touchdowns — two caught by Kyler Kasper in the second half — and added 37 rushing yards with a score. LJ Martin ran for 98 yards, including 73 in the second half.
Arizona (1-1, 0-1) got 268 yards of total offense from Noah Fifita, who threw for 230 yards and one touchdown and ran for 38 yards and a score. Gio Richardson had five catches for 48 yards, but left the game midway through the second quarter with an injury.
Down 17-14 at the half, BYU retook the lead on Kasper’s 6-yard catch with 9:37 left in the third. The defenses took over after that by forcing four consecutive punts until Arizona mounted a drive into BYU territory. The Wildcats appeared to have converted a fourth-down play in the red zone, but it was overturned on replay with 8:16 left.
BYU capitalized by zipping 82 yards in just four plays. The Cougars pushed their lead to 27-17 on Kasper’s 12-yard catch with 6:10 to go. The score was set up by Bachmeier finding Legend Glasker behind the defense for a 61-yard reception.
Arizona marched downfield to open the game, getting an 11-yard Fifita run to cap a 12-play drive for a 7-0 lead less than six minutes in. BYU tied it four minutes later on a 6-yard run by Bachmeier, which came shortly after Fifita was intercepted by linebacker Cade Uluave.
BYU took its first lead at 14-10 on a 25-yard TD catch by Reggie Frischknecht early in the second quarter. The Wildcats went back in front 17-14 on a 16-yard TD reception by Shane King with 2:03 left in the first half.
