Arizona quarterback Willie Tuitama and his offensive teammates came to Provo as toddlers for last season's opener against Brigham Young.

They are grown up now, and BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall barely recognizes them.

Watching film of the Wildcats in advance of Saturday's Las Vegas Bowl, Mendenhall said, "You wouldn't think it's the same offense."

So while BYU quarterback Max Hall's recovery from the Utah game is critical for the Cougars, the amount of pressure on him is directly related to how well the Cougar defense can deal with Tuitama. In other words, how many points will Hall's offense have to score?

Best guess: More than seven. Yeah, a lot more.

BYU's defense accommodated Hall very nicely in his collegiate debut in September 2007. Arizona did not score until the last minute of a 20-7 loss, as Tuitama completed a bunch of short, harmless passes but could not sustain a drive until the end. It was the first game for the spread scheme that offensive coordinator Sonny Dykes brought from Texas Tech, and the Cougars had little trouble containing it.

The rematch comes 23 games later for the Wildcats, and their performance level these days is "not even close," Mendenhall said.

"They do a lot of the same things," said BYU safety Kellen Fowler, "they're just a lot better at it."

And the Cougars are worse defensively.

BYU struggled to stop the passing attacks of UNLV, Colorado State and Utah in the second half of the season. Judging by the entire year, the Cougars' pass defense is not very good. It is not that bad, either. It is average, almost exactly so.

BYU ranks 59th among 119 teams in the country, allowing 206 passing yards a game. Like other defenses in the Mountain West Conference, the Cougars improved their statistics by facing the occasional Air Force or Wyoming, teams that were either disinterested or disgusting when it came to throwing the football. Other opponents were very effective against them, especially Utah.

The Utes' Brian Johnson completed 30 of 36 passes for 303 yards last month, exploiting a secondary that was determined not to allow the deep ball by delivering one short pass after another. Next? More of the same from Arizona.

"That's where they're making their money," Fowler said.

So if they intend to come out ahead in Las Vegas, the Cougars will have to somehow disrupt Arizona's rhythm. It is a big challenge, and not just for the cornerbacks and safeties. Fowler maybe should not be the one saying this, but he's right when he points out that pass defense involves more than four guys.

"That's a shared responsibility between all of us that are back there, linebackers and secondary," Fowler said, "making sure that we get in those passing lanes, 'collisioning' receivers and not giving them those opportunities underneath."

Otherwise, all those little passes can add up to big numbers. In Provo, Tuitama's 26 completions went for only 216 yards, and the Wildcats did not have any sort of running game to help him. This season, the Wildcats have a balanced offense and they average 37 points. That figure is slightly inflated by a few big games, but trends mean everything in Las Vegas, right? So that's your target number for the rematch, Max Hall: Not seven. Thirty-seven.

kkragthorpe@sltrib.com