A Texas Tech win on the road seemed like a mountain of a task. The Red Raiders had every excuse imaginable to roll over against a physical West Virginia team. It was without its starting quarterback, running back, number one wide receiver, starting center, and two starting defensive backs. The defensive unit could not stop a nose bleed a week ago. It was on the road in a hostile environment. And yet, the Red Raiders keep the “John Denver Trophy” in Lubbock for a third consecutive season with a gutty 23-20 victory.
Finally A Fast Start
West Virginia had owned the first half of games. Texas Tech had been MIA during the first half of their games. It was clear that whoever won the first quarter was going to be in the best position to win. Texas Tech came out focused from the opening kickoff and it showed in the execution on the opening drive. The offensive play calls early on had lots of motion/eye candy that the West Virginia defense had to account for. While the opening drive ended in a turnover off a trick play, the defense responded with a three-and-out. The offense picked right back up to march down the field to make it 7-0 early. By the time the first quarter ended, Texas Tech held a 14-0 lead.
The defense continued its strong play into the second quarter. The offense did begin to sputter as the talented defensive line did make life hard for much of the game. But quarterback Henry Colombi didn’t make any big mistakes and guided the Red Raiders to its best first-half start of the season. Red Raider fans could not have asked for much better of a first-half than a 17-0 lead with all things considered.
Script Actually Flipped And Almost Prevented A Texas Tech Win
Coming into this game Texas Tech had a point differential in the second half of +48. West Virginia in the second half of games had a point differential of +4. West Virginia had yet to score a touchdown in the second half of a 2021 football game. But West Virginia came out with high energy and responded in a big way in the third quarter scoring 17 unanswered points. The teams, which both traded turnovers in the first quarter, played very clean the rest of the way. Both teams traded punches in the fourth quarter in the way of field goals before Texas Tech spent the last four minutes of the game working the ball down the field to get in position to win the game.
Colombi, Geiger Step Up
Colombi would finish the day going 23-34 for 266 yards and while he had no touchdowns, he more importantly did not have a turnover all game. He was poised in the pocket from beginning to end and made some big-time throws when the offense needed it. No throw was bigger than the 42-yard completion to Kaylon Geiger with only 3:36 left in the game getting Texas Tech in position for the game-winning field goal. Geiger would finish the day with seven receptions for 82 yards. Head coach Matt Wells now moves to 3-0 against the Mountaineers and enjoyed the serenading by players and coaches in the locker room after this one.
https://twitter.com/TexasTechFB/status/1444443910345003012?s=20
What’s Next After This Texas Tech Win
Texas Tech returns to Lubbock for homecoming after two rough road trips. They will take on the TCU Horned Frogs, whose streak of dominance against the Texas Longhorns by the score of 32-27.
