Oct 31, 2026; Lubbock, Texas, USA; Arizona Wildcats defensive back Tyrese Boss (9) reaches for Texas Tech Red Raiders running back J’Koby Williams (20) in the first half at Galaxy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Michael C. Johnson-Imagn Images

Michael C. Johnson

“After that play, we all came together,” Hartzog said. “We just gotta finish the drive. We played good, but there’s a lot of stuff we need to work on and be better at.” 

Arizona had a 17-10 lead at halftime before getting outscored 24-9 in the second half. 

Turning point

After Arizona took a 23-17 lead following a goal-line touchdown run by Reescano, kicker Michael Salgado-Medina’s PAT was blocked. 

Brennan said “there was a little bit of penetration in the A-gap and I’m not sure the trajectory of the kick is where it needed to be.”

“That wasn’t the difference in the game,” Brennan said. “The difference in the game was us not getting it done when we had multiple opportunities to do so.” 

Arizona was 1 for 10 on third-and-long (9-plus yards) against Texas Tech. The Wildcats were 6 for 7 on third-and-short plays (1-4 yards). Arizona’s average third-down distance was 8.7 yards. 

“They’re a really good defense,” Fifita said. “We knew coming in that they’re a good defense in general. A good defense on third down is always going to be hard to convert (against) and I don’t think we helped ourselves.

“We weren’t productive enough on first down. It put us into a lot of bad situations on third (down). … There’s a couple of execution pieces that we need to fix.”

Instead of kicking a field goal on fourth-and-1 from the Texas Tech 18-yard line, down 27-23 with just over nine minutes remaining in the game, the Wildcats went for it, but Fifita overshot leaping tight end Tyler Powell for an incomplete pass.

“The defense gave us so many opportunities to score points and we didn’t do so,” Fifita said. “We started slow and got stuck as well. I’ll take the blame for that. Gotta find opportunities to keep drives going. The fourth-down miss was a big one. I thought the defense played their asses off. I apologize for not having their back. … I don’t know how you miss a 6-7 tight end, but I gotta eat that one.”