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Texas Tech Scouts Arizona's High-Powered Offense Ahead of Halloween Face-Off
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- Texas Tech Scouts Arizona's High-Powered Offense Ahead of Halloween Face-Off
LUBBOCK-- Texas Tech's defense gave up the most points in a game (37) it has over the last two years in last weekend's shocking loss at Cincinnati, 37-24.
The Red Raiders' first defeat of the season drops them from No. 8 to 13 in the latest Associated Press Top 25. Tech hosts No. 22 Arizona at Galaxy Stadium at 11 a.m. on Oct. 31 for the team's second ranked matchup at home this season.
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"You've just got to be able to take it on the chin," linebacker captain Ben Roberts said this week after the Cincy loss. "You've got to take things personally, and you've got to attack the next week better than you did the previous week."
Texas Tech's hopes of another run at the Big 12 title and berth in the College Football Playoff are not eliminated with just one loss. However, the team knows that the only guaranteed path back to that place is to go unbeaten the rest of the way.
"Everybody knows that we didn't live up to the standard last week," Roberts continued. "I think that, as leaders, sometimes in practice we're not holding that standard the way that we should. And so going into these next couple of weeks, these next five games, it's - continue to push people to be their best in practice."
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The Bearcats' senior quarterback J.C. French IV threw a career-high four touchdown passes, but it was Cincinnati's 255 yards rushing that fueled the upset win.
Defensively, the Red Raiders have kept pace with many of the statistical highlights of last year's dominant squad. But this season, it's been the little mistakes that have kept teams within striking distance, especially as Tech's offense has struggled.
"It was the first time we've actually got punished for that [the mistakes]," said linebacker John Curry, "but it's been the same things we've been trying to fix over and over and over every week."
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Roberts, Curry and linebacker Austin Romaine have pitched in with four of Texas Tech's nation-leading five interceptions returned for touchdowns. Safety Peyton Morgan added the most recent with a 53-yard return against Cincinnati, which was Tech's lone touchdown until late in the game.
As the Red Raiders figure things out offensively, the defense is priding itself on being what the team can hang its hat on on a nightly basis.
"If we do our jobs, we're good," Roberts said. "I feel like we're still a great defense. One game doesn't determine that, so we continue to work on the things that we have been all year, keep honing that and try to be as good as we can."
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This week will be a major measuring stick, as the Wildcats enter the weekend riding a five-game win streak and owning the Big 12's third-best scoring offense. Arizona averages over 310 passing yards per game, the second-best mark in the league, as the catalyst of their explosive offense.
"I believe if we practice the way we've been practicing the last two weeks, ... the change will happen," said cornerback Amier Boyd, who had an interception against Cincinnati and was a part of the team last year that also lost its seventh game, then went on to win the next six, including the conference championship.
"Last year [after the first loss], everybody came into the weight room, practice, meetings with a whole different attitude. Everybody was real ready to see what's next. I believe if we do that like how we did last year, the outcome will be the same."
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