Texas Tech football: Handing out game balls from 37-34 win over UT

Myles Price led the offense with 13 catches

Throughout the season, we’ve been waiting for Myles Price to have a breakout game.  But a nagging back injury has rendered him less effective and less productive than many thought he might be in the offensive system of coordinator Zach Kittley.

However, Price seems to be getting healthier and as he does, his role in the offense is increasing.  On Saturday, for instance, he was Tech’s best offensive weapon with 13 receptions for 98 yards.

Four of Price’s receptions came on either third or fourth down accounting for 27 of the yards he would amass.  That included one of the plays of the game.

With just 2:10 remaining in regulation and the game tied at 31-31, McGuire had the offense stay on the field for a 4th-and-3 at the 50.  On the play, as protection broke down, Donovan Smith scrambled and bought enough time to find Price for a six-yard reception to keep the drive alive.

"“That shows they believe in us,” Price said afterwards, “and when they believe in us, we believe in ourselves even more. That just gives us more confidence. You know, if that was me and I was the coach, I would do the exact same thing. I’m going forward, we don’t have to put a kicker out there. Let’s go score.”"

That play helped save McGuire from himself by making this risky decision pay off.  And it was a microcosm of Price’s day as it was a dirty work moment by Tech’s best receiver.

What was impressive about this 13-catch performance was that Price did almost all of his work in traffic rather than on the outside.  It was as much of a grind-it-out performance as we will likely ever see from a Red Raider wide receiver and it was worthy of a game ball.