Texas Tech football: Late FG pushes Red Raiders past No. 16 Jayhawks

They don’t ask “How pretty?”.  They just ask “How many?”.  For the Texas Tech football team, the answer to that question is now five, as in wins, as the Red Raiders stunned No. 16 Kansas on its home field thanks to a game-winning field goal from Gino Garcia with three seconds remaining.

The win pushed the program to 23-2 all-time against Kansas and, more importantly, 5-5 on the season.  That means the Red Raiders could earn bowl eligibility next week at home by beating Central Florida (though the Knight’s 45-3 victory over No. 15 Oklahoma State on Saturday proves that won’t be easy) or by upsetting Texas in Austin on Black Friday.

It was the first road win over a ranked team for Texas Tech since beating No. 16 Oklahoma State in Stillwater in 2018.  It was also just the third road win of Joey McGuire’s tenure as head coach.

Beating a red-hot Kansas team, the best KU team since perhaps 2007, on its own field with a QB in Behren Morton who was obviously limited in his ability to throw the ball due to the nagging sprained shoulder that has plagued him since the West Virginia game is unquestionably Tech’s best win of the season.

In fact, it is the first win this season over an FBS team with a winning record.  Could it also be a sign that McGuire is once again getting the most out of his team in November?

After going undefeated in the season’s final month in 2022, the second-year head coach has now won his first two games of November in 2023 after beating TCU on November 2nd.  That’s a trend that Texas Tech football fans still might need to adjust to after years of seeing this program fade down the stretch on a nearly annual basis.

It was a gutsy, physical, and much-needed victory for the Red Raiders as they try to salvage what’s left of a season that has been a bit of a letdown.  On Saturday, what we got from Tech was anything but disappointing though as the good guys played spoiler to a team that entered the day with aspirations of a Big 12 Championship Game appearance.  Here are some reactions to what took place in Lawrence.

The QB luck finally broke the way of Texas Tech

No one wants to hope for an injury to an opponent.  That’s why the apparent leg injury that forced KU quarterback Jason Bean out of the game in the second quarter was nothing to celebrate.

With that said, Texas Tech fans had to finally feel like the football gods did their team a favor on Saturday by helping Morton navigate the game despite being banged up himself while the opponent had to turn to their third-string QB for a change.

Had Bean stayed healthy for the entire game, I don’t know that the Tech defense would have been able to hold the high-powered KU offense to just 13 points.  Sure, Bean had been able to generate almost no positive momentum before he was twisted up by the Red Raider defense at the end of a running play.  However, he likely would have eventually found his rhythm and put some points on the board.

Maybe it didn’t come down to luck, though.  Instead, perhaps it was just stupidity on KU’s part.  Knowing that they had no other option behind Bean than walk-on freshman Cole Ballard, why ask Bean to keep the ball on a designed QB draw?  Yes, he is dynamic as a runner but the risk of injury is too great as KU learned the hard way.

As for Morton, he was noticeably limited.  The vast majority of his 25 passing attempts were swing passes to wide receivers and when he did try to push the ball downfield, there was a lack of zip on the ball as most of those passes came up short.

Still, Morton somehow survived the game despite enduring three sacks and taking a handful of other shots while in the pocket or rushing on scrambles.  Meanwhile, Bean could not overcome whatever ailment he sustained and that proved to be the turning point in the game.  Finally, it was the Red Raiders that had the luck at the game’s most important position.  It was about time.