No. 13 Texas Tech beat No. 22 Arizona 34-26 at Galaxy Stadium in Lubbock, and the gap between the two running games decided it. Arizona carried 30 times for just 12 yards. Texas Tech averaged 7 yards a carry.
Arizona threw for 417 yards and committed no turnovers, which usually wins a road game against a ranked opponent. It didn't here, because the Wildcats got nothing on the ground. Texas Tech completed only 11 of 25 passes and still won going away.
How It Happened
Arizona struck first on a 35-yard field goal from M. Salgado-Medina. Texas Tech answered with a 24-yard touchdown pass from T. Castellanos to T. Carter Jr. for a 7-3 lead after one quarter.
The second quarter belonged to Arizona. N. Fifita found I. Mizell for a 94-yard touchdown, and K. Reescano added a 5-yard scoring run to push the Wildcats ahead by 10. S. Harrington's 29-yard field goal with 24 seconds left cut the deficit to 7 at halftime.
Texas Tech tied it early in the third on an 8-yard Castellanos run. Reescano answered with a 1-yard touchdown, but the extra point was blocked, keeping Arizona's lead at 6. That miss mattered minutes later, when Castellanos hit Ke. Johnson for a 27-yard score that put Texas Tech ahead by 1 instead of tying it.
Harrington opened the fourth with a 42-yard field goal to stretch the lead to 4. Then J. Williams broke a 64-yard touchdown run with just over 2 minutes left, the clearest example of what Arizona's defense couldn't stop all day. A 22-yard Salgado-Medina field goal with 22 seconds left only set the final.
Key Performers
T. Castellanos (TTU): 2 passing TD, 1 rushing TD
J. Williams (TTU): 64-yard TD run
Texas Tech rushing: 47 ATT, 328 YDS, 7.0 per carry
N. Fifita (ARIZ): 94-yard TD pass to I. Mizell
K. Reescano (ARIZ): 2 rushing TD
Arizona passing: 33-45, 417 YDS
Castellanos had a hand in three of Texas Tech's four touchdowns. Texas Tech's passing numbers as a team were modest, but the Red Raiders didn't need volume through the air when the ground game was this productive.
Arizona's passing attack was the best unit on the field by yardage, at more than 9 yards per attempt. The problem was everything around it: the Wildcats went 1 for 3 on fourth down, and a run game that produced nothing left them one-dimensional.
What It Means
Texas Tech improved to 7-1 and stays perfect at home at 5-0. Beating a ranked opponent while losing the turnover battle 1-0, and throwing for only 144 yards, says the Red Raiders can win ugly with the run game alone.
Arizona fell to 6-2, and the home-road split is now the story of its season. The Wildcats are 4-0 at home and 2-2 away. They controlled the clock and avoided giveaways in Lubbock, but a road team that can't run the ball has no way to protect a lead, and Arizona lost a 10-point second-quarter edge.
For a No. 22 team visiting No. 13, this was a chance to move up. Instead, Texas Tech's win over a ranked opponent should carry more weight going forward than Arizona's 417 passing yards in defeat.