Texas Tech football: Tahj Brooks, Defense power Red Raiders past Baylor

4th down was fantastic for Texas Tech

In a game featuring two of the most aggressive coaches in the country on 4th down, two coaches who wholeheartedly subscribe to the theory of analytics, Texas Tech was by far the better team on that down.

Interestingly, McGuire felt the need to gamble on 4th down just twice.  One came on the first drive of the game when Tahj Brooks bowled his way through the line for 16 yards.  The other was a failed attempt that saw Cam’Ron Valdez stopped just inches short of the line to gain.

Aranda, on the other hand, had to roll the dice six times.  Fortunately, the Tech defense was up to the task making five stops.

Much of this disparity was due to the fact that Tech was able to jump out to a multiple-score lead.  That kept McGuire from feeling like he had to take chances to keep pace.

Instead, that burden fell on Aranda, who had to know early on that his defense was in trouble.  Tech was clutch time and again when Baylor tried to keep drives alive (even holding the Bears to 4-15 on third down) and that proved to be a huge factor in this victory.