Arizona vs. Texas Tech Recap: Late FG Sends Both Team Totals Over

Texas Tech beat Arizona 34-26 in a game where the lead changed hands three times before the Red Raiders pulled away late. Arizona led 17-10 at the half behind a 94-yard strike from Noah Fifita to Isaiah Mizell, Texas Tech answered with 17 of the next 23 points, and J'Koby Williams put it away with a 64-yard touchdown run at 2:05 of the fourth. Arizona's 22-yard field goal with 22 seconds left set the final. Two DARIMARKET plays cashed on this game, one on each team total.

What cashed

ALT: Texas Tech over 25.5 team points (-200 DraftKings / -215 FanDuel): CASHED

• Our read: Texas Tech had scored 26 or more in 9 of its last 10 and in 8 straight home games. In outdoor games it had cleared 26 in 17 of 19, averaging 40.5. We took the alt number to lean on that floor.
• What happened: The Red Raiders hit 27 on a 42-yard Stone Harrington field goal at 14:43 of the fourth, then added the Williams run to finish at 34, 8.5 points clear of the line. They ran for 328 yards on 47 carries. Williams had 175 on 14 carries and Thomas Castellanos added 117 rushing yards plus two touchdown passes.
• Worth watching: When a team can run like this, its scoring floor holds even on a day the passing game is quiet (Castellanos threw for 144). The home team total stays a number to check against this offense.

ALT: Arizona over 25.5 team points (-105 DraftKings / -113 FanDuel): CASHED

• Our read: Arizona had scored 26 or more in 8 of its last 10, including its last 5, and the price sat near even money.
• What happened: This one went to the wire. A blocked extra point after Kedrick Reescano's 1-yard touchdown run in the third left Arizona at 23, and the Wildcats did not score again until Michael Salgado-Medina hit from 22 yards with 22 seconds left. That made it 26, half a point over. Fifita threw for 417 yards on 33 of 45 with no interceptions, and Mizell caught 7 balls for 182 yards.
• Worth watching: Arizona got almost nothing on the ground (12 rushing yards on 30 attempts), so its points came through Fifita. That passing volume makes the team total playable, but a half-point margin shows how thin it can get when one extra point goes wrong.

How the game played out

Arizona held the ball for 33:20 and outgained Texas Tech through the air 417 to 144, but the Red Raiders won on the ground by 316 yards. Texas Tech took its first lead of the second half on a 27-yard Castellanos pass to Kenny Johnson at 2:33 of the third and never gave it back. Both offenses struggled to sustain drives on third down: Arizona converted 8 of 19 and Texas Tech 6 of 16.

Trends to watch

• Texas Tech's run game produced 328 yards. Williams averaged 12.5 a carry, which keeps his rushing numbers on our radar.
• Fifita threw 45 times with Arizona's run game stuck at 12 yards. When the ground game stalls, his passing volume carries the offense.
• Both teams cleared 25.5, but one did it on a last-minute kick. Alt team totals give a cushion; they do not remove the late-game risk.

Stats are from the ESPN box score. New to this kind of play? Read up on team totals and alt lines, or see the full board at /cfb.