Texas Tech Finishes It: Red Raiders Beat Arizona 34-26 Behind Castellanos and a 328-Yard Ground Game
Tommy Castellanos threw two touchdown passes and ran for 117 yards in his first start, J'Koby Williams added 175 rushing yards and the decisive 64-yard score, and No. 13 Texas Tech held off No. 22 Arizona 34-26 in Lubbock.
LUBBOCK - The quarterback change is now a result. No. 13 Texas Tech beat No. 22 Arizona 34-26 on Saturday at Galaxy Stadium, closing out the game this station followed live through the fourth quarter, the Associated Press reported. Tommy Castellanos, starting over Will Hammond a week after the loss at Cincinnati, threw two touchdown passes and ran for 117 yards and a score.
The ground game decided it. Tech rushed for 328 yards as a team, and J'Koby Williams ran for 175 of them, including a 64-yard touchdown with just over two minutes left that pushed the lead to 34-23. Castellanos had put Tech ahead for good late in the third quarter with a 27-yard touchdown pass to Kenny Johnson on fourth-and-2 - a lead that existed because Ansel Nedore blocked the extra point after Arizona's go-ahead touchdown on the previous drive.
Arizona did not fold. Noah Fifita threw for 417 yards, including a 94-yard touchdown to Isaiah Mizell, who finished with 182 receiving yards in his third straight 100-yard game. The Wildcats kicked a field goal with 22 seconds remaining to pull within eight, but Quinten Joyner recovered the onside kick. Arizona (6-2, 3-2 Big 12) lost its five-game winning streak and freshman receiver R.J. Mosley to an apparently serious left leg injury.
Tech (7-1, 4-1) tied a school record with its 13th consecutive home victory. Coach Joey McGuire said after the Cincinnati loss that he was 'as frustrated as I've ever been in 32 years of coaching,' and answered it by changing quarterbacks; Castellanos also led Tech's first opening touchdown drive since the season opener, a 24-yard toss to Terrance Carter Jr. Arizona hosts TCU on Friday night; Texas Tech hosts West Virginia next Saturday.
