Texas Tech travels to take on Arizona late Saturday night in Tucson. The average Vegas line lists the Red Raiders as 2.5-point favorites. Here’s how Inside the Red Raiders sees the game playing out, the score and who will be player of the game.
Texas Tech (2-0) vs. Arizona (1-1)
When: 9:30 p.m. (CT) Saturday
Where: Arizona Stadium (Tucson, AZ)
TV: ESPN
Streaming: Watch ESPN App
Radio: Texas Tech Sports Network (Tune-In)
Joe Yeager, Senior Writer
Texas Tech 36, Arizona 30
It turns out Arizona’s defense is not as bad as expected and their offense isn’t as good as we thought. Fortunately, Tech’s defense is very solid against the run, and that proves the difference in this one.
Player of the Game: Jordyn Brooks
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Steven Chapman, Photographer
Texas tech 45, Arizona 28
Tech’s defense will keep Khalil Tate contained and the offense will create long drives to keep the Arizona offense off the field. Red Raider quarterback Alan Bowman should have a field day against the Wildcats’ secondary.
Player of the Game: Alan Bowman
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Kenny Romero, Staff
Texas Tech 45, Arizona 28
Alan Bowman takes advantage of woeful Arizona pass defense and has a monster game. The defense proves it is better than what we are used to seeing in Lubbock and holds Tate in check.
Player of the Game: McLane Mannix
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Bradley Fernandez, Staff
Texas Tech 57, Arizona 43
This will be Texas Tech defensive coordinator Keith Patterson’s first true test, facing an offense that averages 629.5 yards per game lead by the talented Khalil Tate at quarterback. However, allowing a combined 86 points to Hawaii and Northern Arizona, as the Wildcats did, is alarming when facing a Big 12 offense.
Player of the Game: T.J. Vasher
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Jarret Johnson, Publisher
Texas Tech 45, Arizona 41
The contest will be closer than some expect as the Wildcats have tremendous weapons in the backfield to pair with Khalil Tate and while the defense has been torched it’s also been opportunistic with a nation-leading six interceptions. In the end, I believe the Red Raiders’ rush defense will make enough stops and Tech’s receivers led by T.J. Vasher will be too much for Arizona’s secondary.
Player of the game: Riko Jeffers
Here’s some more info about the staff:
Joe Yeager is a Lubbock native and Texas Tech graduate, who has covered Texas Tech football and basketball for over a decade, plus followed the athletic program since “he could walk”. A published author of books, scholastic works and hundreds of articles, Yeager provides practice reports, Yeager Shots game recaps, tremendous analysis, video reports, podcasts and thought-provoking columns through his unique perspective. He is the head Texas Tech basketball writer for Inside the Red Raiders and is currently writing a biography on Chris Beard.
Steven Chapman (dbltfarmer) has walked the sidelines, courtside and down the foul lines snapping tremendous photos of Texas Tech athletes the past four years. Chapman, a Texas Tech graduate and former Saddle Tramp, is present at almost every major Tech athletics event and as many practices allowed capturing all the action exclusively for his frequent photo galleries on Inside the Red Raiders. The award-winning photographer’s artwork–especially of West Texas agriculture and wildlife–have been featured in a number of other publications
Kenny Romero (okieredraider01), a 2001 Texas Tech graduate, joined the team earlier this year. Romero helps with recruiting coverage and social media content, plus is a moderator. Romero is a family man and loyal Red Raider who has been part of this online community since 2015.
Bradley Fernandez, a Texas Tech student journalist is the most recent addition to the Inside the Red Raiders staff. The San Antonio native is an avid basketball fan who will help cover Red Raider basketball, football and recruiting. Fernandez is also a contributor for the Daily Toreador, Tech’s student newspaper.
Jarret Johnson has been a journalist for over 12 years as an editor and reporter at multiple Texas newspapers including the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, where he covered high school football, recruiting, college football and basketball, the Cowboys, the Mavericks, minor league baseball, PGA golf and more. He has covered Texas Tech football, basketball, baseball and recruiting for almost six years as publisher of Raider Power and Inside the Red Raiders. He’s also contributed to dozens of magazines including several editions of Dave Campbell’s Texas Football for which he has written the Texas Tech preview section twice. Johnson is also the co-host of the Rockin’ Pregame Show on 101.1 FM in Lubbock before every Red Raider football game.