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Texas Tech football: Turning points in Red Raiders win over West Virginia

By Matthew Conner

LUBBOCK, TEXAS - SEPTEMBER 07: Running back Ta'Zhawn Henry #26 and head coach Matt Wells of Texas Tech stand in the tunnel before the college football game between the Texas Tech Red Raiders and the UTEP Miners at Jones AT&T Stadium on September 07, 2019 in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
LUBBOCK, TEXAS - SEPTEMBER 07: Running back Ta'Zhawn Henry #26 and head coach Matt Wells of Texas Tech stand in the tunnel before the college football game between the Texas Tech Red Raiders and the UTEP Miners at Jones AT&T Stadium on September 07, 2019 in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images) /
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Tech answers first WVU TD

Another area where this team has not been strong has been in its inability to answer scores by the opposition with scores of its own. That’s why the TD the Red Raiders came up with following WVU’s first touchdown proved to be important.

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In the second quarter, the Mountaineers scored their first TD off a 24-yard wide receiver pass from Isaiah Esdale to RB Kennedy McKoy.  Having to resort to trickery so early in the game is often a sign of desperation but we’ve seen plenty of examples of successful trick plays sparking momentum in a lifeless team and stadium.

At this point, WVU was down 28-10 with half of the second quarter to play and Neal Brown had to be thinking about his team coming up with a stop and getting back into the endzone to start to put pressure on the Red Raiders.

But Tech didn’t allow that to happen.  On the ensuing drive, the Red Raiders went down the field on a 9-play, 73-yard drive for another TD to make the game 35-10 and kill any hopes of a WVU comeback.

The drive culminated in yet another successful Matt Wells gamble, this time a 4th-and-goal conversion from two yards out by SaRodorick Thompson.  That was the second time in the game that Wells had gone for it on 4th down inside the 5-yard-line and on both instances, his team came through.

In a game where West Virginia was repeatedly turned away after getting deep into Tech territory, Tech found a way to cross the goal line twice when its head coach refused to settle for three points.  In a 38-17 win, eight points don’t loom all that large but what these gambles did was convey a message from coach to team that he was confident in them and that they were going to be the aggressor.

Don’t forget that two weeks ago, the Red Raiders blew a 17-0 lead in Lawrence and the last time Tech was in Morgantown in 2017, they blew multiple two-score leads.  But on Saturday, this important fifth touchdown didn’t allow the Mountaineers to rally.

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