Texas Tech football: The good, the bad and the ugly from win over TCU

The Good: Texas Tech has a defensive performance to remember

The defensive effort from David Gibbs 806 D on Thursday was arguably the best defensive showing against a Big 12 opponent in the Kliff Kingsbury era.  Coincidentally, the other candidate for that distinction, was another gritty win over TCU.

In 2013, rookie head coach Kliff Kingsbury knocked off No. 24 TCU in Lubbock in his first Big 12 contest.  That night, the defense was again key in a 20-10 win.

The two defensive performances are almost identical statistically. In 2013, TCU managed 401 yards and turned the ball over twice against the Red Raiders.   This year, Tech gave up a meager 411 yards and took the ball away three times.

In the six times a Kingsbury team has squared off with TCU, the Frogs have averaged 33.8 points and 467.8 yards of total offense.  Of course, the most painful defensive performance came in 2014 when TCU throttled the Red Raiders 82-27 in Ft. Worth racking up 785 yards of offense.

But this year, Texas Tech beat TCU at its own game.  Playing a physical, aggressive and intimidating defensive game, Tech did to TCU head coach Gary Patterson what he has attempted to do to every team he plays, choke the life out of their speed offensive attack.

Additionally, this defensive showing was the first time that the 2018 Red Raider defense lived up to the preseason hype for a complete game.  With the meat of the Big 12 schedule still to come, Texas Tech fans are now more confident than ever in the fact that there is indeed a legitimate defense in Lubbock.