Arizona Wildcats Football at Utah Utes Score Predictions

Arizona began its first Big 12 season with a daunting test last week, starting on the road against 10th-ranked Utah. And still Our entire staff disagreesthe Wildcats caused the surprise.

Great job, us.

Now comes the Big 12 Conference debut in Tucson, with the UA (3-1, 1-0) hosting old Border Conference foe Texas Tech (4-1, 2-0) late Saturday night. This will be the 34th meeting all-time, with Arizona having won just five times (plus two draws), but that includes a 28-14 home win in 2019.

How will Arizona fare in its first Big 12 home game? Our staff makes their predictions and hopes they'll be a little more accurate this time.

Kim Doss – Arizona wins 31-20

Let's get to last week's game, Preseason win-loss predictions still seemed pretty reliable. Arizona appeared to be a team that would enter the game at 2-2. Then something unexpected happened in Utah. The Big 12 proved to be as difficult to predict as many had warned before the season.

Still, the preseason prediction of an Arizona win against Texas Tech still seems good. In fact, things are looking even better than they did before the Wildcats' win over the Utes two weeks ago.

Arizona appears to have found its defense. Salt Lake City recorded a season-low 84 yards on the ground. That even beat the 89 yards that NAU conceded in the second week of the game.

The offense wasn't a T-Mac-or-bust affair last week. The tight ends even got involved. Whether it was a change in officiating, an extra week of work on offense, or a combination of both, the results were encouraging. Another week of work and Matt Adkins getting used to his new tasks is promising.

UA will still have to adapt. The Wildcats face their biggest challenge yet in the running game. Tahj Brooks averages nearly 138 yards per game as a runner. He's good for 5.3 yards per carry and manages nearly 26 attempts per game.

That may be concerning considering the Wildcats gave up 210 yards to New Mexico and 235 yards to Kansas State, but in both cases the bulk of the running yards were gained by mobile quarterbacks. Devon Dampier scored 130 points for the Lobos and Avery Johnson scored 127 points for KSU.

The Red Raiders don't have a quarterback like that. As a runner, Behren Morton averages less than 6.5 yards per game. However, he is more experienced than Utah rookie Isaac Wilson. Can the Wildcats apply enough pressure to create the turnovers that were so crucial to the SLC win, or will Brooks be the safety valve the Red Raiders need to prevent that?

Last week, TTU nearly matched its season high on the ground with 231 yards. They had 251 through the air. They earned a three-point home win against a 3-2 Cincinnati team whose only major conference win came against 1-4 Houston.

The Red Raiders' best win was a 30-22 victory against ASU in Lubbock. This is only the second time this season that they have left their home. The other ended in a 37-16 loss at Washington State. Expect something similar in Tucson.

Ezra Amacher – Arizona wins 37-30

I expect Arizona to get off to a strong start at home for the first time this season. Arizona's prolific offensive play under tight ends coach Matt Adkins was a revelation in the Wildcats' win over Utah. Adkins should feel encouraged to be a little more aggressive this week. I doubt the defense can repeat its success against a really good Texas Tech passing offense, but I hope it does just enough to keep Arizona ahead throughout.

Adam Green – Arizona wins 38-27

A week ago, most of us expected a loss to Utah, which made sense. Arizona was coming off a bad game against Kansas State and even with a bye week, a road win seemed unlikely.

What a difference a week can make.

Now the Wildcats have the momentum of a team that picked up a top-10 win to start the season, and the belief that the team could be among the Big 12's best has returned. The defense played an outstanding game against Utah and the offense did enough to earn the win.

Arizona's offense can (must) be better, but it won't face a defense as strong as Utah's this week. This game is likely to be where the most points will be scored and we expect the Cats to come out on top.

Brandon Combs – Arizona wins 49-37

This will be an interesting game. Arizona is coming off a big win on the road against Utah. Now they return home and play in front of the ZonaZoo for the first time in a long time. The advantage already exists for the “Cats”. The key will be to capitalize on this.

Texas Tech is one of the hottest teams in the conference with an outstanding offense. However, it's worth noting that most of the defense they've played hasn't been stellar.

I also don’t want to diminish the talent of their offense. Tahj Brooks is a bad man. Josh Kelly and Coy Eakin are solid receivers. They also have Jalin Conyers at tight end, who is quite versatile and athletic. It will be interesting to see how they handle Arizona's improving defense on the road.

However, TTU's Achilles heel is this defense. It's not good. It's near or near the bottom of the conference in several categories. They only have four sacks. They give up 6.4 yards per play, which ranks last. They have conceded 23 touchdowns, which is the most in the conference. And they give up, averaging 463 yards per game.

The key for Arizona will be to exploit the Red Raider defense's sieve while making sure to stop Tahj Brooks and force a few turnovers. They achieve all of the above goals and earn a 12-point win at home.

Juan Serrano – Arizona wins 31-28

Arizona returns home after a huge win in Salt Lake City and appears to be finding its footing on both offense and defense. The running game seems to be shaping up for both the offense and both Quali Conley And Kedrick Reescano appear confident when running. Players like Genesis Smith And Emmanuel Karnley made great strides in the Utah game and their performance will continue in the Texas Tech game.

However, the Red Raiders have demonstrated their ability to be efficient on the ground and in the air. It will be a challenge for the defense to slow both of them down, but they should be ready to do so. A run-down stadium in Arizona will help both sides and give the Wildcats their first Big 12 home win.

Devin Homer – Arizona wins 38-31

After taking care of business on the road against Utah last week, Arizona will look to stay perfect in the conference when Texas Tech comes to the desert. This game has the makings of an offensive shootout as the Red Raiders lead the conference in points per game but have also given up the most points. Whoever plays defense will win this game, but after last week, the UA defense no longer has an excuse not to show up and play physical football.

Brian J. Pedersen – Arizona wins 33-27

Arizona couldn't have won this game last week, not after how it looked in the previous game, and with Utah being the preseason pick to win the conference and play at home in front of a sold-out stadium. But as is often the case in UA history, a big surprise came out of nowhere and suddenly the course of the season completely changed.

Unfortunately, the history of Wildcat football often includes great disappointment after such a big win. The most recent example was in 2022, when Arizona came home from a road win against No. 9 UCLA and looked lifeless in a home loss to Washington State.

This won't be an easy game, especially given Texas Tech's point total, but if Arizona can get a few stops and maximize its chances, it will start league play 2-0 for the first time since 2019.