Texas Tech Beat Arizona State 53-25 to Stay Unbeaten at 6-0

No. 9 Texas Tech beat Arizona State 53-25 at Galaxy Stadium in Lubbock on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026, scoring 43 points in the first half and staying unbeaten at 6-0. The Red Raiders are 3-0 in the Big 12. Arizona State fell to 3-3 overall and 1-2 in the conference, and the Sun Devils have been outscored 108-44 in their last two Big 12 games.

The game was settled early

Arizona State forced a fumble on the first drive of the game and took over at its own 2 yard line. That was the last good moment of the half for the Sun Devils. On the first pass of the game, Texas Tech linebacker Ben Roberts intercepted Arizona State quarterback Cutter Boley and returned the ball 24 yards for a touchdown.

Texas Tech then scored on a 9 yard run by quarterback Will Hammond and a 62 yard run by J'Koby Williams to lead 21-0 in the first quarter. Arizona State answered with a 74 yard touchdown pass from Boley to Raiden Vines-Bright, but Williams scored again on a 38 yard run, and Stone Harrington kicked three field goals in the half. Hammond threw an 11 yard touchdown pass to Coy Eakin with 31 seconds left in the second quarter, and a John Curry interception set up one more Harrington field goal before the break. Texas Tech led 43-10 at halftime.

The numbers behind the rout

Williams finished with 165 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries. He started the game because Cam Dickey was out, and he lost a fumble on the first drive before scoring on runs of 62 and 38 yards. Hammond completed 18 of 26 passes for 232 yards, with one touchdown pass and one touchdown run. Kenny Johnson caught 7 passes for 120 yards. Harrington made four field goals in the game, from 31, 42, 37 and 34 yards. Texas Tech gained 502 yards in total and ran for 260 yards on 37 carries.

Arizona State ran for only 35 yards on 28 carries and was sacked six times. Boley went 5 for 10 for 124 yards, with one touchdown and two interceptions, and he was replaced at halftime. His backup, Mikey Keene, completed 25 of 34 passes for 256 yards and two touchdowns in the second half. Keene led touchdown drives that ended with passes to Reed Harris and Cardae Mack, and his play raised a clear question about who starts at quarterback next week.

What comes next

Texas Tech plays at Cincinnati in Week 8 and stays on the road with its unbeaten record intact. Arizona State hosts Kansas State on Oct. 24 and has to fix a run game that produced 35 yards and a defense that gave up 43 points in one half.