The weather gods got busy during the BYU Cougars vs. Arizona Wildcats face-off on Saturday, October 11. For the first time since 2022, Kalani Sitake’s BYU Cougars found themselves stuck in a weather delay.  The Cougars’ matchup with Arizona was halted at about 5:50 p.m. local time. In the evening, the sky lit up with thunder and lightning taking place within eight miles of the Arizona Stadium in Tucson. Well, looked like the game had just picked up the momentum.

On October 11, while the game was put on hold, All Sports Tucson analyst Kevin Murphy dropped the big update. On X, he wrote, “We’re in a weather delay because of lightning in the area. Arizona trails 14-7.  BYU has outgained Arizona 171 to 96, but Arizona had recently scored on a 17-yard touchdown pass from Fifita to Hutson. @AllSportsTucson.” Not a good time for weather gods to hit the ‘delay’ button.

The second quarter was just about to begin at the time of the delay, with BYU leading 14-7. Arizona had just gotten on the board for the first time with 32 seconds left in the first quarter. Courtesy? Noah Fifita, who threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Kris Hutson to cut a 14-point deficit in half. However, BYU had struck big twice. The Cougars’ offense lit up the field. 

L.J. Martin ripped off a 28-yard touchdown run. Then it was freshman QB Bear Bachmeier’s turn as he connected with Parker Kingston on a 75-yard bomb. With BYU’s energy on fire, this weather delay might be working up with their momentum. But the fact that the weather would play games was not out of the syllabus for the Cougars, as a warning was there.

The weather forecast predicted that the Arizona Stadium showdown would come with a tropical twist, the remnants of Tropical Storm Priscilla. There were warnings for Sataki and Brent Brennan’s squad that the storm could bring 1 to 3 inches of rain. On October 10, a day before the game, Brett McMurphy had dropped a big update.

He wrote, “Kickoff for Saturday’s BYU at Arizona game will remain at 8 pm ET, unless there is a “drastic change” in weather projections, sources told @On3sports. Big 12 & school officials continue to monitor the remnants of Hurricane Priscilla, which may result in extreme rain/lightning.” And the BYU special teams and defensive ends coach, Kelly Poppinga, took it in good spirits and said, “We’re ready for the monsoon. Let’s go.”

Sitake’s team had taken preparations beforehand. The BYU special team did wet-ball drills for the heavy rain forecast. “We love the elements. We’re ready for it,” the Cougars coach sounded all confident. However, the BYU punter, Sam Vander Haar, is under a lot of tension.

BYU Cougars ready for a payback on a key weapon

Australian Vander Haar introduced himself to BYU football fans a year ago. Do you remember his power move? He pulled off a 22-yard fake punt that kept BYU alive. With this, Vander Haar led to the Cougars’ only points of the second half in a 34-28 win over Baylor. Now, it’s BYU’s payback time. Vander Haar walked into the Arizona game, very well knowing that a family emergency could pop up at any time. 

His wife, Hallie, is pregnant and might go into labour as BYU faces off against Arizona in Tucson. The couple is expecting their first child. But the Cougars are willing to go to any extent to help Vander Haar reach his family if the urgency arises. As Poppinga promised, “I mean, we got a bunch of plans ready. I mean, we have a plan where we can fly him home on the jet and get him back in time for the game. And, I mean, there’s a bunch of things. But I think right now, we’re just playing it day by day. And if something happens, and you know, number one is he wants to be with his wife, and he needs to be with his wife when that happens.”

While BYU and Arizona must be sitting idle on the sidelines, waiting for the weather gods’ mood to get better, Sitake and co. might be filled with a feeling of safety. Lately, things have been too hard for the Cougars after the Colorado face-off that ended up being an event of disrespect. With seconds left, the student section went wild, belting out “(Expletive) BYU” and “(Expletive) the Mormons!”

This did not sit well with Brent Brennan. He then took a stand and pleaded with fans to make it a safer place for the BYU Cougars. In a pre-game presser, the Wildcats’ head coach said, “I would also ask our fans to be respectful in this thing. I think that’s one of those things that we’re better than that… Let’s make it incredibly hard on BYU. But let’s be respectful in the process.” Now, all eyes are on the sky, waiting for the storm to clear so the action can start.