Halloween just became a whole lot scarier for Arizona.

No. 13 Texas Tech (7-1) defeated No. 22 Arizona (6-2) 34-26, delivering a massive blow to the Wildcats' College Football Playoff chances and Big 12 championship hopes. For Texas Tech, it was its 13th-straight win at home, which tied a program record.

After Texas Tech's loss to Cincinnati last week, head coach Joey McGuire benched quarterback Will Hammond for Thomas Castellanos, and the move paid off. Castellanos thrived with both his arm and his legs, as he completed 11 of 24 passes for 144 yards and two touchdowns while running for 117 yards and a touchdown. It was his fifth career game with more than 100 rushing yards.

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The Texas Tech run game was fantastic, rolling up 332 yards in the win. Running back J'Koby Williams ran for 175 yards and a touchdown. However, it wasn't all great for the Red Raiders, as they fell behind early.

Both teams scored on their opening drives, with Arizona getting on the board first with a 35-yard field goal from kicker Michael Salgado-Medina. Texas Tech responded with a 13-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that was capped off with Castellanos' 24-yard touchdown pass to tight end Terrance Carter Jr. to put the Red Raiders up 7-3.

The two teams then traded punts and turnovers on downs before the Wildcats scored their first touchdown in epic fashion. On third-and-12 from their own 6-yard line, quarterback Noah Fifita dropped back into the end zone before scrambling to the sideline.

As he scrambled, Fifita threw a dart to Isaiah Mizell, who then turned on the afterburners and raced up the sideline for a 94-yard touchdown to put Arizona up 10-7.

The Wildcats then built on their lead coming out of the two-minute timeout in the second quarter with the Wildcat formation. Running back Kedrick Reescano took the direct snap and ran for the five-yard touchdown to finish the 14-play, 81-yard drive and put Arizona up 17-7.

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The Red Raiders managed a field goal before the first half concluded to cut the deficit to seven, making it a 17-10 game.

Texas Tech built on its end-of-half momentum and scored on the opening drive of the third quarter to tie it 17-17. Castellanos faked a pitch outside before knifing through the Wildcats' defense for an eight-yard touchdown.

The Wildcats didn't blink, however, as they marched down the field with a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that ended with Reescano punching the ball in from the 1-yard line for his second touchdown of the day. However, the Wildcats' extra-point attempt was blocked, so Arizona had just a 23-17 lead.

Texas Tech capitalized on the mistake, as on its second drive of the second half, it rifled down the field to score another third-quarter touchdown. On fourth-and-2 from the Arizona 27-yard line, Texas Tech decided to go for it on fourth down. Wide receiver Kenny Johnson ran a go route, and Castellanos found him for a touchdown.

Texas Tech nailed the extra point, going up 24-23. On defense, it shut down Arizona and kept its good vibes going, as kicker Stone Harrington made his second field goal of the day, a 42-yarder, to put Texas Tech up 27-23.

After trading scores to start the second half, the defenses started to show up.

Arizona's response to Texas Tech's field goal fell short, as it went for it on fourth-and-1 from Texas Tech's 18-yard line, but Fifita's pass was too high for tight end Tyler Powell.

Texas Tech, still up 27-23, had a chance to take a two-score lead but squandered it. Red Raiders running back Cameron Dickey fumbled, and Arizona recovered on Texas Tech's 43-yard line.

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However, Arizona did not take advantage of the field position, as it was forced to punt. Yet, it forced a punt from Texas Tech to get the ball back with about four and a half minutes left.

Arizona then went three-and-out, as the Red Raiders' defense once again dominated the series and forced another punt, and then the offense took care of the rest.

On third-and-1, with Arizona needing just one more stop to get the ball back, Williams burst through a hole in the line and scored a 64-yard touchdown, putting the Red Raiders up 34-23. Williams' touchdown marked 17 unanswered points for the Red Raiders.

Arizona got a field goal late, but didn't convert the onside kick, sealing the crushing loss.

College Football brings us another great slate of football games on Saturday. The past few weeks have been full of upsets and wild games. It seems like no one can keep hold of the top few spots in the rankings this year. That provides a much more enjoyable watch than chalky outcomes. After all, we are watching kids play a sport, and most won’t continue on to play professionally. One of the two matches between ranked teams happens today, so we know both of them will move up or down the Top-25 list after this, with Arizona taking on Texas Tech.

Arizona comes into the game with a 6-1 record and a 3-1 mark in the Big 12. They are ranked 22nd in the nation. The Wildcats started their season with a win over Northern Arizona. Then in Week 2, they had to face BYU, and we’ve seen the Cougars be one of the best teams in the country. Arizona lost this game 28-17. Since that loss, they’ve run off five straight wins over Northern Illinois, Washington State, Cincinnati, West Virginia, and Iowa State.

The Wildcats really haven’t had a tough game outside of the matchup with BYU. They only have two other ranked teams on the schedule – today against Texas Tech, and in a few weeks against Utah. If they can win both of those games, they have at least a legitimate shot to win the Big 12, and they could even find their way into the College Football Playoffs. He hasn’t gotten a ton of attention in the Heisman talk, but Noah Fifita has been fantastic for the team. Fifita is completing 75% of passes, has 18 touchdowns, and four interceptions.

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Texas Tech is currently ranked 13th in the nation, and they are 6-1 for the year as well. They also have a 3-1 record in Big 12 play. Their lone loss of the season came last week in shocking fashion to Cincinnati. It wasn’t particularly close, either. They went on the road, and they dropped the game to the Bearcats 37-24. The biggest issue in this game was probably the turnovers from Texas Tech. They threw an interception and had two fumbles lost. It didn’t help that the Bearcats scored 24 points in the 2nd quarter of the game, and all of them within the last eight minutes of the half.

Texas Tech had been rolling before last week. They won the first six games of the season. In the first game, they beat Abilene Christian by 23. In Week 2, they were able to top Oregon State by 11 points. In Week 3, they had their first test, and that was a battle against Houston. In that game, they won 28-26, but clearly it was a close battle. The next three games were fairly easy matchups with Sam Houston, Colorado, and Arizona State all not putting up much of a fight against the Red Raiders.

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This afternoon’s game is a battle between two Big 12 beasts. The Wildcats have a legitimate shot at pulling off the upset. I really like the way that Fifita has played and positioned his squad for wins. Texas Tech’s defense has been a big piece of their game, and I’ve been pretty unimpressed with their offense. I think these two teams are fairly evenly matched. I know Texas Tech will be looking for revenge or to bounce back. I’m going to take the Wildcats with the points, though. I think they have the right offense to battle against Texas Tech. Give me Arizona +3.5.

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