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Arizona nearly rallied back from a two-touchdown deficit to beat Texas Tech in the Wildcats’ Big 12 home opener, but the Red Raiders prevailed to beat the UA 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.
Saturday’s loss for Arizona was also its first to an unranked team since the Mississippi State game last season. The last time Arizona fell to an unranked team in Tucson was against Washington State in the 2022 season.
“I’m disappointed that we were unable to get it done,” Brennan said. “I love the way we rallied.”
With Texas Tech (5-1) coming in with the highest-scoring offense in the Big 12 and the Wildcats capable of scoring points, Saturday had the makings of an offensive shootout at Arizona Stadium.
It was anything but that.
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’s thrown interceptions in seven straight games.
Ten of Arizona’s 14 drives ended in Texas Tech territory, but the Wildcats only produced one touchdown and had three turnovers and a turnover on downs. Even though Arizona out-gained Texas Tech 422 yards to 332 and had a season-high 25 first downs to TTU’s 14, the Wildcats struggled to find the end zone. Arizona also only converted three of its 14 third-down plays.
“There were a couple of missed throws there. We had a little bit of an issue with protection,” Brennan said. “I think everyone on the field had a piece of that. Everyone on the sideline, too; me, play-callers, all of us. That was a collective — absolutely not good enough.”
Brennan suggested Arizona’s offense has been…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/arizonas-offense-goes-mia-wildcats-145442527.html
Author : AZCentral | The Arizona Republic
Publish date : 2024-10-06 14:54:42
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