Three Offensive Players to Watch as Arizona Wildcats Face Texas Tech Red Raiders

The former Border Conference rivals are back on the field and facing each other as the Arizona Wildcats host the Texas Tech Red Raiders on Saturday at 8 p.m. mountain time in Tucson.

Things have gotten interesting for the two teams the past couple of weeks.

Arizona (3-1, 1-0 in Big 12) is coming off a huge win over Utah to open conference action. The win was the Wildcats’ first road victory of the season. It was also Arizona’s first win in Salt Lake City in a decade.

Texas Tech (4-1, 2-0) has won its last three games and that includes a pair of Big 12 victories, the most recent over Cincinnati. The Red Raiders have been scoring a lot of points — but they’ve been giving up a lot of points, too.

Here are three offensive players to watch for each team.

TE Keyan Burnett

The Wildcats need more weapons in the passing game, which is why the emergence of Burnett last week is so important. His touchdown reception, on a perfect pass in the back of the end zone, was his first scoring catch of the season.

He enters Saturday’s game with eight catches for 125 yards. But there’s a chasm between Tetairoa McMillan (29 receptions) and the rest of the pass-catchers, so any receptions Burnett can provide will be valuable.

QB Noah Fifita

Fifita isn’t known for getting things done with his legs. He only had two rushes for 10 yards against Utah. But his ability to slide around in the pocket or roll out to make a clean pass — such as his scoring strike to Burnett — was paramount in that victory.

Through four games he’s thrown for 1,060 yards with seven touchdowns and four interceptions. He’s also completing 63.1% of his passes. That’s a split to watch. Last year he completed more than 70% of his passes.

OT Rhino Tapa’atoutai

The redshirt freshman is doing a terrific job protecting the blind side of his quarterback. But, it was his work in the run game, along with the work his fellow linemen did, that mattered just as much against the Utes.

The Wildcats rushed for 169 yards against the Utes, with two players rushing for more than 70 yards. The run game will matter against the Red Raiders on Saturday, as the offense has scored more than 35 points in four of their five games.

QB Behren Morton

The Red Raiders have had a revolving door at quarterback the past few years, but Morton has put it to a stop. His performance this season has led to 1,426 passing yards, with 14 touchdowns and two interceptions. He’s also completing 63.5% of his passes. He’s also receiving exceptional protection, as he’s only been sacked five times. Arizona’s pass rush will have to be aggressive to put Morton on the defensive.

RB Tahj Brooks

Brooks was an All-Big 12 running back a year ago and he opted not to head to the NFL and come back for one more season with the Red Raiders. So far, he’s producing like an All-Big 12 back once again. He’s rushed for 551 yards and four touchdowns with an average of 5.3 yards per carry. He has speed and he’s difficult to bring down, which makes him a key piece of the Red Raiders’ offense.

WR Josh Kelly

He’s a sixth-year collegiate and no receiver has benefited more from Morton’s immense numbers than Kelly. He has 39 receptions, with 487 yards and three touchdowns. The next closest Red Raiders receiver has 19 catches. When Morton needs a reception, Kelly is the player he’ll look for. For context, Kelly is nearly two-thirds from his output of a season ago, when he caught 61 passes for 983 yards and eight touchdowns.