Texas Tech football: Why the Red Raiders lost to Kansas State

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Oct 3, 2020; Manhattan, Kansas, USA; Texas Tech Red Raiders linebacker Jacob Morgenstern (41) tries to tackled Kansas State Wildcats running back Deuce Vaughn (22) during a game at Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Sewell-USA TODAY Sports /

Tech couldn’t stop the run

Entering the game, Kansas State was the worst rushing team in the Big 12. In fact, they were averaging just 78.5 yards per game on the ground.

So of course, against the Red Raiders, they got right. Rushing for 198 yards as a team, KSU racked up more yards in the ground game against Tech than they had in the two previous games combined by 41 yards.

The Cats averaged 4.7 yards per carry against the generous Tech defense. That was an increase of 2.3 yards per attempt from what they had accomplished before this contest.

Vaughn became KSU’s first 100-yard rusher of the year. In fact, by rushing for 113 yards against Tech, he surpassed his total for the entire season.

This was the second-straight weekend in which the Red Raiders were dominated on the ground by an opponent. Last week, Texas galloped its way to 214 yards.

Now, the Red Raider rush defense has fallen to No. 6 in the Big 12 by allowing 146.7 yards per game. But when you take away the season-opener against Houston Baptist (in which the Huskies ran for just 28 yards) the Red Raiders are allowing a terrifying 206 yards per game to opposing rushing attacks.

The Red Raiders aren’t going to be able to win many games that way as was the case on Saturday. And after being trampled by the worst rushing attack in the conference, one has to fear that this trend is going to continue all year long.

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