Thomas Castellanos threw two touchdown passes and ran for a score to lead No. 13 Texas Tech to a 34-26 win over No. 22 Arizona in a Big 12 Conference game on Saturday in Lubbock, Texas.
It was the 13th consecutive home win for the Red Raiders (7-1, 4-1) to match their longest streak in school history, matching a run from 1939-42, a great bounceback after losing at Cincinnati last time out.
Castellanos, starting in place of Will Hammond, threw for 144 yards and ran for 117 yards, his fifth career 100-yard rushing game but first since 2023 with Boston College. J’Koby Williams added 175 rushing yards and a score.
Arizona (6-2, 3-2) had its 5-game win streak snapped despite 417 passing yards from Noah Fifita, who was 33 for 45 with a TD but was sacked five times. Isaiah Mizell had seven catches for 182 yards and a TD and Kedrick Reescano added two rushing TDs for the Wildcats, who ran for just 12 yards while allowing 328.
Down 17-10 at the half, Tech tied it five minutes into the third quarter on a 5-yard run by Castellanos. Arizona went back in front on a 1-yard Reescano run, but the Red Raiders blocked the extra point. Castellanos connected with Kenny Johnson on a 27-yard TD pass on 4th and 2 to put the Red Raiders up 24-23 with 2:33 left in the third.
After a 42-yard field goal by Tech early in the fourth, Arizona had three chances to go in front but turned it over on downs once and punted twice. The Red Raiders then put it away with a 64-yard TD run by Williams with 2:05 to go.
The Wildcats cut it to eight with 22 seconds left but couldn’t recover the onside kick.
After Arizona kicked a field goal on its opening drive, Tech got a 24-yard TD catch by Terrance Carter Jr. for an early 7-3 lead. The Wildcats went back in front midway through the second on a 94-yard TD pass from Fifita to Mizell on third and long.
A 5-yard scoring run by Reescano gave Arizona a 17-7 edge late in the first half, with Tech getting a 29-yard field goal with 24 seconds to go before halftime.
Arizona returns home to host TCU on Nov. 6, while Tech hosts West Virginia on Nov. 7.
–Field Level Media
