Texas Tech lost to Baylor in a hard-fought 27-24 game that had every opportunity to get away from the Red Raiders. But interim head coach Sonny Cumbie had this team competing from beginning to end. What can Texas Tech build on going into bowl season?
Texas Tech Lost To Baylor Thanks To Killer Turnovers
In the first half, Texas Tech had two costly fumbles that Baylor would eventually convert into 10 total points. The first one was on the first offensive play from scrimmage for Texas Tech after surrendering an opening drive touchdown. Baylor would be up 10-0 before two minutes of football had even been played. The other fumble resulted in Baylor getting the ball on the Texas Tech 24 yard line and would widen the lead to 17-3.
The ball appeared to be slick for both sides of the ball. Defensively, Baylor had its backup quarterback Blake Shapen starting due to an injury to their regular starter last week to Kansas State. Shapen was inaccurate at different times in the game, and Texas Tech had multiple opportunities to change the tide with an interception. But all three opportunities that hit Red Raider defenders in the hands would be dropped and allow Baylor to stay on the field.
Defense Displays Grit Again
Baylor did have firm control of this game almost from beginning to end of the game. They would amass 434 yards of offense and control the ball for 37:26. There was a stretch in the second half when Baylor had run 33 plays to Texas Tech’s six. And yet, they only gave up three points during that time. Outside of the opening drive with an explosive pass play, the defense forced Baylor to grind it out offensively. The Texas Tech defense bent plenty but hardly broke.
Texas Tech was facing the best rushing attack in the Big 12. Abram Smith came into the game as the sixth-leading rusher in the country. While Smith did finish with 117 yards, it required 30 carries to get there. Keeping him to 3.9 yards a carry, and keeping Trestan Ebner to 3.2 yards a carry demonstrates how little running room there was all game. With 1:18 left in the game, Baylor faced a fourth and two from the Texas Tech 12. Instead of opting for a field goal to make it a six-point game, Baylor went for it in hopes of ending the game. But Colin Schooler, who was around the ball all game with 10 tackles, came up with a huge pass deflection giving the offense one last chance.
Offense Found Groove Late
The offense never showed up last week against Oklahoma State. Going into this one, Texas Tech knew it had to do a better job up front protect quarterback Donovan Smith. For much of the game, the Red Raiders were failing to do so. Baylor would finish the game with five quarterback hurries and two sacks. Texas Tech also did not find the end zone until there was 1:08 left in the first half. The offense would then remain scoreless until the fourth quarter.
But with 13:31 left in the game, the offense came alive. Texas Tech orchestrated back-to-back touchdown drives, each covering 75 yards. Texas Tech would finish the game with 386 yards of offense. 203 of those yards were earned during the last 13 minutes of the game. Smith and the offense also made big plays to put themselves in a position to send this game to overtime.
Texas Tech Lost To Baylor With First Missed Kick
Standout kicker Jonathan Gairby found himself with an opportunity to send the game t0 overtime. But the kicker who had been perfect all season, including a 62-yarder, had his first kick drift to the left from 53 yards out as the last-minute effort for the Red Raiders was not meant to be. In some ways, the final drive serves as a summary of the entire season. The potential for more was always there, but ultimately this team could not make the last one or two plays to achieve above their ceiling.
Texas Tech will have a few weeks to get healthy. These Red Raiders look to put a nice holiday bow on this season. This program has had major momentum building and a bowl win to close out the season could help throttle the future of the team into the next gear.
