A statement was made in Salt Lake City on Saturday. Despite the influx of proven college football talent that was brought in during the offseason, many people were still skeptical of this Texas Tech team. However, Joey McGuire’s program announced itself to the entire college football world with a win that was never in doubt. This Texas Tech 4-0 start was hardly perfect. But the 34-10 road victory over Utah made it abundantly clear that the Big 12 title is going to have to go through the Red Raiders.
Dominate Win Despite Numerous Mistakes
The keys to this game were always around the trench play. If the Red Raiders could protect their quarterback (which they had to do for two on Saturday), a Texas Tech 4-0 start was not going to be a dream, but a reality. The physicality of Kyle Whittingham’s team was not too much for this offensive line to handle. They only allowed one sack on the day. However, the offensive line was far from perfect. The coaching staff is going to have to re-evaluate road snap counts. Officials flagged the offensive line multiple times for false starts. Those false starts were a major part of a total of 14 penalties for 122 yards that were called on the Red Raiders. Utah had four first downs as a result of Texas Tech penalties.
And yet, the Utes could only cobble together 263 total yards of offense. The Utah offense is going to have nightmares of Texas Tech linebacker Jacob Rodriguez. The fifth-year captain of Shiel Wood’s defense finished with an interception, a forced fumble, and 11 tackles. His performance led an effort that Texas Tech fans haven’t seen out of a Red Raider defense in over two decades. Much was made of the defensive stats coming against inferior opponents. But the physical performance today established this Texas Tech defense as one of the best units in the entire country.
No Quarterback Controversy…For Now
Behren Morton has had plenty of great games in his Texas Tech career. It is not a reach to say this was one of his absolute worst performances. The two interceptions in the first half were the result of Morton underthrowing receivers from clean pockets. Additionally, Morton left the game after taking a hit on a play where both he and the coaches would admit he should have slid. He finished the game 12-for-19 for 142 yards and zero touchdowns. Morton’s best completions came on the opening drive, in which the majority of the yards came on yards after catch.
The play calling did not change drastically with the change at quarterback. It speaks to the trust offensive coordinator Mack Leftwich has in Will Hammond. Hammond would finish the game 13-for-16 for 169 yards and two touchdowns. He also added eight rush attempts for 61 yards. This moment, which was the biggest for this program in more than 15 years, was not too big for the quarterback who is the future of this program. Morton is not going to lose his job with one bad game and an injury.
But seeing the play-making ability of Hammond with his legs and still making poised throws in the biggest moments of the game will keep the whispers around. Ask Texas how it felt with Arch Manning sitting on the bench with Quinn Ewers being the veteran starter, what that dynamic is like. Of course, if McGuire handles it just like Texas, that should translate to a college football playoff semifinal appearance at minimal right?
Texas Tech 4-0 Start First Since 2013; What’s Next?
Let us put on our professor glasses and get out the red pen to put a grade on this performance. Overall, this team gets a “B-” or, at best, a “B” grade for execution on Saturday at Rice-Eccles. A team cannot earn an “A” grade with 14 penalties and two turnovers, full stop. And yet, they still won the game by 24 points over a top 20 team. Now this team will have to adjust to being the hunted team. Many coaches expressed at Big 12 Media Days their jealousy/disgust at the money Texas Tech spent.
This win will only further motivate Big 12 teams. They do not want to see another program upset the college football patriarch, unless it’s them. The Red Raiders go into their first bye week undefeated before they begin a stretch of seven straight games before their next bye week. Morton and the rest of the team should be able to get healthy before resuming play with a new target on its back when they travel to Houston to resume their season.</p>
Main Image: Rob Gray-Imagn Images
