Texas Tech football: Finally, Red Raiders win a game that they should have lost

Tech lost the battle at the line of scrimmage

Entering this game, many believed that the Red Raider offensive line would tell the story of this game.  However, that proved to be far from the truth.

The Red Raiders were absolutely atrocious along the offensive line.  In fact, it was one of the worst o-line performances this program has produced in recent memory.

Houston defensive end Derek Parish wrecked shop all day, on either end of the line.  Having his way with both Texas Tech tackles, Monroe Mills and Caleb Rogers, Parish recorded 11 total tackles, 6.5 for loss.  He was also credited with 4.5 sacks on the afternoon.

What’s more, the Red Raiders were not really effective when running the ball.  In fact, on 44 carries, Tech averaged a meager 2.7 yards per rush (a number partially impacted by all the sacks given that sacks count against a team’s rushing total for some reason).

Defensively, Tech was not able to match Houston’s dominance.  The Red Raiders had only two sacks and four tackles for loss (Houston would have 14 tackles behind the line as a team by contrast).

Thus, it defies all convention for Tech to have won this game.  That’s because every coach and football analyst at any level of the game preaches about the importance of the line of scrimmage.

The belief is that the team that wins the battle at the line will win the game and on almost every occasion, that rings true.  However, in Saturday’s game, the Red Raiders lost the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and still found a way to prevail.