Khalil Tate’s 84-yard touchdown run in the second quarter set a record and might have changed the game. But even he conceded afterward that he didn’t play as well as he could have. Tate struggled for most of the first half, turning the ball over three times. The third could have been especially problematic, as Arizona was in a quasi-clock-killing mode in its own territory with less than 30 seconds left in the half. Tate also ran out of bounds twice for sacks in situations where he could have thrown the ball away and not lost any yardage. Tate was at his best in the third quarter, when he scrambled for a first down on third-and-14 and completed 4 of 5 passes for 61 yards.
On a night when starter J.J. Taylor “got nicked up” in the second quarter, per UA coach Kevin Sumlin, the rest of the RB corps stepped up in a big way. Gary Brightwell carried a career-high 21 times for 85 hard-earned yards and a pair of 1-yard touchdowns. Bam Smith had a career-best 109 scrimmage yards, including a 46-yard reception on a screen pass late in the first quarter that jump-started a scuffling UA offense. Brightwell and Smith combined for 12 of 13 carries on Arizona’s epic 99-yard TD drive in the fourth quarter.
This group made some timely plays in a game that was more about the ground attack. Stanley Berryhill III caught two passes – one for a first down on third down, the other for a touchdown. Cedric Peterson had one catch for 47 yards that set up the first of Brightwell’s TD runs. Tayvian Cunningham led the way with five catches, but he appeared to slow down on Tate’s first INT. Sumlin implied that the second was partially attributable to a “bad route.” TE Bryce Wolma didn’t catch at pass, but Sumlin said Wolma was the “unsung hero” in the run game.
It was an inconsistent performance by this group, as senior leader Cody Creason noted. “We had a good drive at the end, as everyone knows,” Creason said. “But I think we could improve on a bunch of things in the first half.” Arizona took 24 yards in losses on rushes, although 11 could have been avoided had Tate thrown the ball away. The line came through when it absolutely had to. All 13 plays on the 99-yard drive were runs, and most were directed into the heart of the Texas Tech defense. The Wildcats finished with 314 yards on 61 carries (5.1 ypc).
The front had a new look, and it worked. The Wildcats, who primarily had been a 4-2-5 team, used three linebackers – Tony Fields II, Anthony Pandy and Colin Schooler – on almost every snap. The three combined for 24 tackles, 1.5 stops for losses and an interception. The three-man line featured some surprising combinations, including 310-pound Trevon Mason at defense end. No Wildcat had a sack, but Arizona regularly made Texas Tech QB Alan Bowman uncomfortable. He averaged just 5.65 yards per pass attempt and threw a pair of picks. “We flushed him a couple times,” Sumlin said. “We hit him a couple times. We made him move off the spot.”
The secondary also had a new look, or at least new-ish. Jace Whittaker moved into a slot-corner role that saw him playing in deep-safety territory at times. He had two of the secondary’s seven pass breakups. Fellow CB Lorenzo Burns had three PBUs, tying his career high, plus a pick. Whittaker, Burns and freshman Christian Roland-Wallace (four tackles) battled all night with 6-6 Red Raiders receiver T.J. Vasher, who finished with six catches for 96 yards but no touchdowns. Safety Scottie Young Jr. had his best game of 2019 (six tackles, one TFL, one PBU).
It wasn’t the best night for this group. Lucas Havrisik missed an extra point and a 51-yard field-goal attempt on a windy evening in Tucson. Matt Aragon reclaimed the punting job but averaged just 36.2 yards per attempt – 10.5 yards less than counterpart Austin McNamara. Arizona might not have needed to go 99 yards in the fourth had Brian Casteel fair-caught McNamara’s punt before it tumbled to the 1. Texas Tech’s specialists never gave Arizona’s returners a chance to make something happen.
Defensive coordinator Marcel Yates quieted his critics with a masterful game plan against Texas Tech’s frenetic, prolific offense. The Wildcats seemed to be a step ahead of the Red Raiders in that matchup for most of the night. Noel Mazzone and the offense had trouble finding answers against Tech’s defense in the first half. A personnel adjustment – more Wolma, fewer four-wide sets – seemed to help in the second half. The grade gets knocked down because of the end of the first half, when field position and the clocked dictated that the Wildcats play it safe and head to the locker room with the lead. Instead, Tate threw a pick that could have led to points for the Red Raiders.
