Texas Tech is in the same spot it was at this point last season on the way to its first Big 12 title and College Football Playoff.
The No. 13 Red Raiders (6-1, 3-1 Big 12), who host No. 22 Arizona (6-1, 3-1) on Saturday, are again coming off a loss in their seventh game when favored on the road after a 6-0 start to the season.
“It’s crazy. I went back and looked at my PowerPoint from the year before and it’s like exactly the same thing that I was gonna
tell them this year,” Tech coach Joey McGuire said this week. “We’ve turned this into a five-game season to where there’s not room for error.”
A double-digit favorite last week, the Red Raiders instead lost 37-24 at Cincinnati. They had 13 penalties and three turnovers, some special teams issues and allowed 255 yards rushing, including the first rushing touchdown against them this season.
“It was a perfect storm with really bad football,” McGuire said.
After their 26-22 loss at Arizona State last season, the Red Raiders put together another six-game winning streak — the final five regular-season games and the Big 12 championship game over BYU — with an average winning margin of nearly five touchdowns. They then lost to Oregon in the CFP quarterfinal Orange Bowl.
“We’re going to get their best shot," Arizona coach Brent Brennan said. "It’s going to be an incredible environment.”
The Wildcats are in the midst of their best start since 2014 and are on a five-game winning streak since a 33-27 double-overtime home loss to No. 8 BYU.
Texas Tech has won its last 11 home games, one short of the school record set in 1942.
The outcome between Texas Tech and Arizona could have a huge impact on who goes to the Big 12 championship game on Dec. 4.
No. 6 Utah (7-0, 4-0), which has an FBS-best 13-game winning streak, is the Big 12’s only remaining undefeated team after BYU (6-1) and Texas Tech both lost Saturday, joining Arizona and Oklahoma State (5-2) in a quartet of teams with 3-1 conference records. The Utes play Saturday at Cincinnati before back-to-back games against BYU and Arizona.
Idle No. 18 Houston (6-2) is among five teams with two league losses. The Cougars fell 21-13 last week at Utah after a lost fumble with 2:15 left, and 28-26 at Texas Tech in September after coming up just short of a 2-point conversion in the final minute.
“You look at the conference ... it’s going to come down to who can play the best each Saturday, and we’ve got to play much better, especially this week,” McGuire said.
“It’s the same thing as last year,” he said. “It might have been different teams, but you had us with a loss, BYU undefeated. Now it’s us with a loss, Utah undefeated. But you had a bunch of (teams) that had one loss that were in the fight for getting to the conference championship game.”
Arizona has fourth-year starting quarterback Noah Fifita while junior Will Hamond is in his first full season as Tech’s starter after rehabbing throughout the offseason from a torn right ACL last October.
Hammond has completed 139 of 205 passes (67.8%) for 1,561 yards with six touchdowns and six interceptions.
“A lot of ups and downs,” McGuire said. “It happens some with young quarterbacks, but it doesn’t matter, like nobody cares. Nobody cares how I feel, nobody care how he feels, and you shouldn't. You’re here to win football games and find ways to play better.”
The 5-foot-10 Fifita has 2,064 yards and 18 TDs passing with four interceptions. He is second nationally completing 72.4% of his passes (167 of 225).
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