Texas Tech football: Why the Red Raiders were able to beat West Virginia

The Red Raiders won at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball

A huge tip of the hat should go to the Texas Tech offensive line after its performance on Saturday.  Facing a WVU defense that entered the game tied with Baylor for the most sacks in the Big 12 at 28, the Red Raiders allowed no sacks and no official QB hurries.

More from Wreck'Em Red

• Texas Tech football: Red Raider fans need to know about these Mountaineers
• Texas Tech football: Red Raiders land first commit for class of 2025
• Texas Tech football: Why have the Red Raiders struggled on the road under McGuire?
• Texas Tech football: Why the Red Raiders can compete for a Big 12 title
• Texas Tech football: Plenty of questions remain as conference play arrives

Keep in mind that WVU sacked Baylor’s Charlie Brewer eight times on Halloween night and featured a pair of tackles in the Stills brothers who had a combined 13 sacks on the year.  What’s more, four other Mountaineers have at least 1.5 sacks on the season.  But none got to Jett Duffey on Saturday.

What was surprising was that the Red Raiders didn’t just rely on the short passing game and wide receiver screens to get the ball out of Duffey’s hands in a hurry.  Rather, the junior QB was asked to throw the ball downfield and between the hashes.  He averaged an impressive 10.4 yards per attempt, which is more than double what he averaged in the Iowa State game when he threw 16 screen passes.

On the other side of the ball, the Red Raiders were able to bother WVU’s QB, Austin Kendall, all afternoon.  Tech had sacks by Riko Jeffers and Eli Howard but that doesn’t tell the entire story of how well the front seven controlled the line.

Credited with nine tackles for loss and giving up just 2.8 yards per rush, Tech dictated terms to the Mountaineers for the first time in the last six years.  It’s been uncommon for us to see the guys wearing the Double-T bully the Mountaineers along the line over the years but that’s what happened on Saturday.

One would find it hard to argue that the bye week didn’t help reinvigorate a Texas Tech defensive front that looked worn down in Lawrence as is could not generate a pass rush no matter how many blitzers its defensive coordinator sent.  Against West Virginia, that group came up with game-changing plays and prevented Kendall from finding his comfort zone in the pocket and that was huge reason Tech was able to win.