[6] After earning a win in the opener at Oregon State, Arizona played its first home game of the season against Texas Tech.
[11] Several mistakes became a disaster for the Wildcats and USC capitalized on them to break the game open and win big, and Tomey lost to his predecessor for the second consecutive year.
Unfortunately, the Wildcats did not have an answer against the Bruins and avoided a shutout with a late field goal, and leading to yet another loss to a top-ten ranked opponent.
Late in the first half before intermission, with the Sun Devils leading 18–14, Wildcat quarterback Ronald Veal threw a Hail Mary pass that was caught by receiver Derek Hill, who then ran to the end zone for a touchdown and Arizona led 21–18 at the break.
The play gave the Wildcats the lead for good as they would not trail again and won it and extended their unbeaten streak over ASU to seven (including the 1987 tie).