Arizona looked like a rejuvenated team Saturday night in a 24-16 loss to BYU in Las Vegas. The Wildcats' losing streak moved to 13 games, but the team looked much more competitive than it has in most of its other games during the ongoing streak of games. A momentum-changing safety sparked the team to pull to within one score after previously trailing 21-3 at one point.
There is certainly work to do for Jedd Fisch's team, but things are moving in the right direction heading into this weekend's matchup at home against San Diego State. Before getting to that point, however, we want to take a look back at our picks for the top performers from Saturday's game at Allegiant Stadium.
Here are the players who we felt were deserving of a game ball after Saturday's performance.
RB Michael Wiley
Stats vs BYU: 15 carries, 64 yards; 6 catches, 66 yards
PFF grade: 73.8
The sophomore from Houston is getting his first opportunity to be the featured back this season, and he took advantage of his opportunity Saturday night. He ended up splitting carries with Northwestern transfer Drake Anderson, but Wiley was able to impact the game in a variety of ways with 130 yards of total offense in the loss. He finished second on the team with 66 receiving yards to go along with 64 yards on the ground. Wiley also did a solid job in pass protection, which is something that has been a focus for the running back group this offseason. He impacted the game for Arizona as much as anyone on offense Saturday night.