A rare matchup of ranked Big 12 teams is set for Saturday afternoon in Lubbock, where No. 22 Arizona heads into a meeting with No. 13 Texas Tech with both schools sitting at 6-1 overall and 3-1 in league play.
The Wildcats and Red Raiders are part of a four-team knot for second place in the conference, one game behind Utah. Texas Tech reached the Big 12 title last season and went on to the College Football Playoff quarterfinals before falling to Oregon, but it is coming off its first defeat of this year, a 37-24 loss at Cincinnati last Saturday.
“Go 1-0 and you control everything,” Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire said. “This is an extremely competitive conference.”
Arizona is rolling in the opposite direction. The Wildcats have won five straight, including a 39-3 home win over Iowa State last Saturday. That stretch has already secured bowl eligibility for a second straight season, which Arizona had not done since 2014-15, and the Wildcats have now put together five-game winning streaks in back-to-back years for the first time since 1992-93.
Their only setback came at then-No. 15 BYU on Sept. 12, and since that game Arizona has been putting up 40.2 points per contest while winning by an average margin of 23.8.
That offense is led by Noah Fifita, whose résumé already has him at the top of the Arizona record book. He is the school’s career leader in passing yards with 11,247 and touchdown passes with 91, and Saturday will be his 42nd consecutive start. This season, he has thrown for 2,064 yards and 18 touchdowns against just four interceptions, while completing 74.2% of his passes and adding three rushing scores.
Brent Brennan believes Fifita’s experience matters in a game like this.
“That's one of those things where you hope that the experience of (quarterback) Noah Fifita and the battles that he's been over time, that those reps help him make great decisions with the football,” Brennan said. “We played against lots of really good defenses, and I do think this -- besides BYU -- I think this is the best defense we played all year.”
Brennan also pushed back on the wider view of his quarterback.
“I think the national narrative around Noah is slow and late to the game,” Brennan said. “For him to not being talked about as one of the absolute best quarterbacks, best players in the country right now, I don't understand that.”
Texas Tech’s defense gives that claim plenty of weight. The Red Raiders have intercepted 13 passes, and five of those have gone back for touchdowns. They have also been stingy against the run, with five of seven opponents held under 80 rushing yards.
The Red Raiders may also get a boost back in the backfield. Running back Cameron Dickey, who ran for 1,124 yards and 14 touchdowns last season, is expected to return after missing the last two games with an ankle injury suffered at Colorado on Oct.
- In his absence, J’Koby Williams has carried the load for a Texas Tech run game averaging 189.7 yards per contest.
“It’s going to be good to have him back, another guy that’s been in some big games,” McGuire said.
Dickey’s return could ease some of the pressure on quarterback Will Hammond, who has six touchdown passes and six interceptions this season. Texas Tech could also use Thomas Castellanos, who has played in four games, has completed 3 of 5 passes for 45 yards, and has rushed for 65 yards on 15 carries.
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That means the Red Raiders may have to lean heavily on the perimeter just to get through the non-conference stretch, a risky place to live with several opponents bringing strong frontcourts. For a team still trying to sort out roles and rotations, the early schedule could turn into a stress test for how well this group can space the floor, defend bigger lineups and survive before the roster gets closer to full strength. [Read more 🡒]