J’Koby Williams helps Texas Tech football avoid scary hours in Arizona triumph

Was 2025 real life, or just fantasy?

That’s the question the Texas Tech football team has had to answer over the past eight days. Did Joey McGuire’s team set a new standard with a Big 12 title and College Football Playoff appearance, or did the Red Raiders just spend well, and correctly, to ride a one-off into the spotlight?

Make no mistakes about it: Texas Tech wasn’t a very good team the first six games of the season, all victories. Losing at Cincinnati was merely a byproduct of cracks in the foundation becoming bigger and bigger. With a red-hot Arizona team coming to town, the Red Raiders had to figure it out, and fast.

McGuire, and most coaches, like to say they’d rather have lessons to learn from after wins than losses. There will be more of that after a 34-26 triumph over the Wildcats in a top-25 showdown inside Galaxy Stadium. Beats the alternative, where obituaries for a lost season were at the ready with another loss.

Texas Tech has J’Koby Williams and the defense to thank for this one. Williams has been the catalyst for the Red Raider offense this season. With Thomas Castellanos getting the start at quarterback over Will Hammond, Arizona had to contend with both Castellanos and Williams as rushing threats, something the Wildcats were unable to do as both exceeded 100 rushing yards and Williams (175 yards) provided the necessary cushion, taking a 3rd-and-short run 64 yards into the end zone to make it an 11-point game late.

Noah Fifita has an impressive stat line out of this one (417 yards on 33-of-45 passing), able to pick at the Tech pass defense that ranks among the worst in the country. Where the Red Raiders shined was in the defining moments, not letting mistakes and big plays compound into a lost game.

The pick-6 streak came to an end, and the Red Raiders didn’t get a forced turnover. It did, however, swallow up the Arizona rushing attack, making the Wildcats one-dimensional. That let the defensive front gear up to sack the quarterback, which they did five times — including a massive one from A.J. Holmes Jr. that set up Williams’ long touchdown run.

Castellanos wasn’t perfect. He also didn’t need to be. The quarterback kept the defense on its toes and gave Tech’s playmakers like Kenny Johnson and Terrance Carter Jr. a chance to make plays when they materialized.

There’s no such thing as a perfect team in college football this year. Texas Tech certainly isn’t. This season is all about working around your flaws and still finding ways to win.

For at least one game, an important one at that, the Red Raiders did that.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: J’Koby Williams helps Texas Tech football avoid scary hours in Arizona triumph