The Arizona Wildcats fell 28-22 to the Texas Tech Red Raiders on Saturday night.

Arizona was playing in its first home conference game as a member of the Big 12. After beating the 10th-ranked Utah Utes last week, it struggled to find the end zone this week and couldn’t keep up the momentum, falling to 3- 2 on the season.

Texas Tech entered the conference game at Arizona Stadium 2-0 after winning one-possession games against Arizona State and Cincinnati over the past two weeks. On Saturday, the 11:00 PM EST kickoff was the last kickoff they participated in in the program’s history.

The teams traded punts for the first four drives of the game until Texas Tech finally put its first points on the scoreboard. After Raiders quarterback Behren Morton completed a 38-yard pass to Micah Hudson to get the ball inside the five-yard line, Texas Tech capped the game’s first scoring drive with a three-yard run from Tahj Brooks.

Arizona had to settle for a field goal after quarterback Noah Fifita just missed receiver Tetairoa McMillian on a trick play that slightly knocked him over in the end zone.

The Wildcats went on a drive just before the first half, but a Fifita pass was tipped to the line and was intercepted by defensive lineman Quincy Ledet Jr.. They would pay for the mistake as Tahj Brooks would go ten yards for his second rushing touchdown of the night. They converted a two-point conversion to push the lead to 15-3.

Fifira threw his second interception of the game just before halftime as the Wildcats drove down the field again. Texas Tech again took advantage of the pick and created points off the turnover with a 30-yard field goal, sending the Wildcats to the locker room trailing 18-3.

It marks the first time in the Wildcats quarterback’s 20 career games that he has thrown at least two interceptions in a game.

The Wildcats kicked another field goal to start the third quarter and immediately got a much-needed break on the next defensive push. Tahj Brooks fumbled, and the Wildcats recovered it at the 32-yard line. However, they once again struggled to find the end zone and settled for another field goal.

Brooks fumbled for the second straight drive, which Arizona again recovered. They again took advantage of a field goal and took the lead for the first time in the game, 19-18.

It was a big day for Quali Conley on the field, although it didn’t always show on the scoreboard. He finally gave Arizona its first touchdown of the night when he went off the tackle for a three-yard rush. The score brought the lead within two.

Texas Tech’s offense remained scoreless in the second half until just over two minutes left in the game, when they regained the lead on a field goal. Trailing by two, the Wildcats used all three timeouts plus the two-minute timeout to stage a comeback.

However, on the first play of the drive, McMillian fumbled after picking up a first down and more in space. Texas Tech would score a few plays later to push the lead to a two-score game.

Arizona hit another field goal to cut the score to six. Kicker Tyler Loop set a program record as the only kicker to make five field goals in a game. They couldn’t recover the onside kick because they had no more chances to get back.

Noah Fifita finished the day with 301 yards through the air and completed 28 of his 49 passes. Most of his yards went to McMillian, who had eight receptions for 161 yards. It was an excellent evening on the statistics, but the turnover made the difference.

According to injury news, senior gunner Maldonado, the leader of the Wildcats secondary, was injured in the first quarter. He slowly made his way to the locker room after the injury and returned to the sidelines in street clothes in the second half.

The Wildcats are back in action next Saturday when they travel to Provo to take on the BYU Cougars. The match currently kicks off at 1:00 PM ET and will once again be broadcast nationally on FOX.