Arizona's offense goes MIA, Wildcats fall to Texas Tech in Big 12 home opener
Arizona was trending towards rallying back after trailing Texas Tech by 15 points, but the Red Raiders prevailed to beat the Wildcats 28-22 Saturday night in Tucson.
The Wildcats' (3-2) setback is the first home loss under first-year head coach Brent Brennan — and the first Big 12 loss of the season.
With Texas Tech (5-1) as the highest-scoring offense in the Big 12, Saturday was expected to become a potential offensive shootout.
Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita had arguably his worst performance as the Wildcats' starter, completing 28 of 49 passes (57%) for 301 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions. Saturday marked Fifita's first multi-interception game of his career; he has thrown interceptions in seven straight games.
Arizona safety Gunner Maldonado suffered an injury near the Texas Tech sideline in the first quarter. Senior nickel back Treydan Stukes, who suffered a leg injury against Utah last week, was held out and replaced with sophomore Genesis Smith, who made his third start this season — all different positions in the secondary; he also started at strong safety and free safety this season.
With Maldonado out, Texas Tech quarterback Behren Morton completed a 38-yard pass over the middle to wide receiver Micah Hudson on busted coverage by the UA's secondary. Texas Tech running back Tahj Brooks capped the brief drive with a touchdown run.
Arizona kicker Tyler Loop kicked a 47-yard field goal near the end of the first quarter to cut the deficit to 7-3. Loop also knocked down a 40-, 30-, 37- and 52-yarder in the second half for a career-high five field goals, which is also a single-game program record.
Although Arizona's defense surrendered a touchdown in the first quarter, the Wildcats forced Texas Tech to punt three times in the first quarter.
Arizona's offense, in its second week with passing game coordinator and tight ends coach Matt Adkins calling the plays instead of offensive coordinator Dino Babers, stalled and struggled throughout the night on Saturday.
Following Arizona defensive tackle Stanley Ta'ufo'ou's sack on third down to force Texas Tech to punt, the Wildcats got to the Texas Tech 20-yard line after wide receiver Montana Lemonious-Craig drew a passing interference penalty and Tetairoa McMillan's 9-yard reception. The Wildcats ran three rushing plays and couldn't pick up 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. Prior to Conley's run, Arizona had 11 rush attempts for 11 yards. Two plays later, Fifita threw his first interception after Texas Tech blitzed. TTU defensive lineman Quincy Ledet batted and intercepted Fifita's pass attempt and returned it 20 yards to the UA 30-yard line. Brooks converted the takeaway into his touchdown run. With a two-point conversion and a buzzer-beater 30-yard field goal, Texas Tech took 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.
Much like Arizona's upset win over 10th-ranked Utah last week, Arizona's defense revived the Wildcats and provided the offense with extra opportunities, but instead of two interceptions, it was two fumbles. UA defensive backs Dalton Johnson and Owen Goss each "peanut-punched" Texas Tech ball carriers, with linebacker Taye Brown and defensive end Chase Kennedy falling on the ball for Arizona's two takeaways of the night.
After converting a fourth-and-short play, Conley scored Arizona's only touchdown of the night in the third quarter with a 3-yard run. Arizona grabbed its first and only lead, 19-18, following Loop's fourth made field goal of the night. 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 for Texas Tech that put the Red Raiders within striking distance, the Wildcats forced TTU to kick a 31-yard field goal. The Red Raiders went ahead 21-19 with just over two minutes left.
With a chance to win the game, Arizona wide receiver caught a pass over the middle, Texas Tech linebacker Jacob Rodriguez punched the ball out his hands to force a fumble. Brooks delivered the knockout punch with a 32-yard touchdown run up the middle to move ahead 28-19. Loop made a 52-yard field goal, but the Wildcats couldn't convert the onside kick with less than a minute and suffered their second loss of the season.
Arizona faces 17th-ranked BYU (5-0) Saturday afternoon in Provo.
Extra points:
Contact Justin Spears, the Star's Arizona football beat reporter, at . On X(Twitter):
Subscribe to stay connected to Tucson. A subscription helps you access more of the local stories that keep you connected to the community.
