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    • Arizona football falls to Texas Tech in the Big 12 home opener
    Michigan

    Arizona football falls to Texas Tech in the Big 12 home opener

    Caradoc Wyn Posted on

    Justin Spears
    | Arizona Daily Star

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    Arizona nearly recovered from a two-touchdown deficit to beat Texas Tech in the Wildcats’ Big 12 home opener, but the Red Raiders prevailed, defeating the UA 28-22 on Saturday night in Tucson.

    The Wildcats’ (2-3) setback is their first home loss under first-year head coach Brent Brennan – and their first Big 12 loss of the season.

    Saturday’s loss for Arizona was also the first against an unranked team since the Mississippi State game last season. The last time Arizona lost to an unranked team in Tucson was against Washington State in the 2022 season.

    “I’m disappointed we didn’t make it,” Brennan said. “I love the way we bonded.”

    With Texas Tech (5-1) having the highest-scoring offense in the Big 12 and the Wildcats capable of scoring points, Saturday at Arizona Stadium had the makings of an offensive shootout.

    It was anything but that.

    Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita had arguably his worst performance as a Wildcats starter, completing 28 of 49 passes (57%) for 301 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions. Saturday was Fifita’s first multi-interception game of his career. He has thrown interceptions in seven straight games.

    Ten of Arizona’s 14 drives ended in Texas Tech territory, but the Wildcats managed just one touchdown and had three turnovers and one turnover on downs. Although Arizona outgained Texas Tech by 422 yards to 332 and posted a season-high 25 first downs to TTU’s 14, the Wildcats struggled to find the end zone. Arizona also converted only three of its 14 third-down plays.

    “There were a few missed throws. We had a little problem on defense,” Brennan said. “I think everyone on the field had a part in it. Also everyone on the sidelines; me, the playmakers, all of us. It was a collective – absolutely not good enough.”

    Brennan pointed out that Arizona’s offense “carries too much intrigue” on a weekly basis, overcomplicating its approach to offense.

    “How many pieces do we carry and what part of them?” Brennan asked. “I don’t think that’s the case, but it’s going to be something we have to look at and say, ‘Hey, how come we’re not implementing it? Like, why is this guy making a mistake?’ “It’s crazy how often we run this play. “We either don’t need to call this play or use another player who can make it.”

    Arizona safety Gunner Maldonado suffered an injury near the Texas Tech sideline in the first quarter. Senior nickel defenseman Treydan Stukes, who suffered a leg injury against Utah last week, was held and replaced by sophomore Genesis Smith, making his third start this season – all different positions in the secondary; He also started this season at strong safety and free safety.

    With Maldonado out, Texas Tech quarterback Behren Morton completed a 38-yard pass over middle-to-wide receiver Micah Hudson after the UA secondary missed coverage. Texas Tech running back Tahj Brooks capped the short drive with a touchdown run.

    Arizona kicker Tyler Loop hit a 47-yard field goal late in the first quarter to cut the deficit to 7-3. Loop also hit a 40-, 30-, 37- and 52-yarder in the second half for a career-best five field goals, also a program record in a single game.

    Although Arizona’s defense conceded a touchdown in the first quarter, the Wildcats forced Texas Tech into three punts in the first quarter.

    “I think our defense actually played a lot of good football. … There’s a lot in there,” Brennan said.

    Arizona’s offense, which had passing game coordinator and tight ends coach Matt Adkins calling the plays instead of offensive coordinator Dino Babers in the second week, faltered on Saturday and struggled all night.

    “I continue to take responsibility for that,” Fifita said. “It’s my job to get our offense into a rhythm and keep us in rhythm. I feel like every time we got something going, I would make a mistake or two that stalled the drive, so I take full responsibility.”

    After Arizona defensive tackle Stanley Ta’ufo’ou sacked on third down to force Texas Tech to punt, the Wildcats reached Texas Tech’s 20-yard line after wide receiver Montana Lemonious-Craig called a passing interference Penalty and Tetairoa McMillan’s 9-yard penalty drew reception. The Wildcats ran three rushing plays, failed to gain a yard, and turned it over on downs.

    Arizona’s first big rushing play was a 19-yard gain up the middle by senior running back Quali Conley in the second quarter. Before Conley’s run, Arizona had 11 rush attempts for 11 yards. Two plays later, Fifita threw his first interception after Texas Tech blitzed. TTU defender Quincy Ledet beat Fifita’s pass attempt, intercepted it and returned it 20 yards to the UA 30-yard line. Brooks turned the takeaway into his second touchdown run. A two-point conversion and a buzzer-beater 30-yard field goal gave Texas Tech an 18-3 lead at halftime.

    Arizona’s first-half drives resulted in two punts, a field goal, a turnover on downs and two interceptions. The Wildcats had four drives inside Texas Tech territory in the first half but only had three points.

    Similar to Arizona’s surprising win over 10th-ranked Utah last week, Arizona’s defense revitalized the Wildcats and gave the offense additional opportunities, but instead of two interceptions, there were two fumbles. UA defensive backs Dalton Johnson and Owen Goss each “peanut-punched” Texas Tech ball carriers, while linebacker Taye Brown and defensive end Chase Kennedy each had fumble recoveries.

    After converting a fourth-and-short play, Conley scored Arizona’s only touchdown of the night on a 3-yard run in the third quarter. After Loop’s fourth field goal of the night, Arizona secured its first and only lead at 19:18. Loop’s only miss of the night, a 49-yard attempt, ended Arizona’s four-drive scoring streak in the second half.

    Despite a 32-yard pass to Texas Tech that put the Red Raiders within striking distance, the Wildcats forced TTU into a 31-yard field goal. With just over two minutes left, the Red Raiders took a 21-19 lead.

    With a chance to win the game, the Arizona wide receiver caught a pass over the middle, Texas Tech linebacker Jacob Rodriguez knocked the ball out of his hands to force a fumble. Brooks provided the knockout blow with a 32-yard touchdown run up the middle to take a 28-19 lead.

    “Nobody feels worse about it than him,” Brennan said of McMillan’s blunder, “because he cares so much about it.”

    The Wildcats “were all in it and we played better football for most of the second half, but we didn’t do that in the last five minutes of the game,” Brennan said.

    “We didn’t stop them and fumbled the ball,” Brennan said. “I think that’s the hard part about it.”

    Loop made a 52-yard field goal, but the Wildcats failed to convert the onside kick in less than a minute and suffered their second loss of the season.

    Arizona will face No. 17 BYU (5-0) on Saturday afternoon in Provo.

    “I still absolutely believe in our players and this team, and I think this conference is really tough,” Brennan said. “We’re going to look at this and figure out what we need to get right and what we need to let go of from tonight and get ready for the next one because that’s going to be a really tough one at BYU. That’s them.” comes goodbye.

    “So we still have a lot of work to do. … If we could have responded with touchdowns in the red zone, I think we could have kicked the door down on the game, but we didn’t. That’s the hard thing.” Truth.”

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    Caradoc Wyn
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