Texas Tech football: Tight win over UCF sends Red Raiders bowling

Tahj Brooks says goodbye to Texas Tech fans in fitting fashion

Playing his final game in Lubbock, senior running back Tahj Brooks went out in the most fitting way possible.  When the game was on the line and everyone in the stadium knew that he was getting the ball, Tech’s best player was unstoppable.

Starting with the final play of the TD drive that put Tech ahead 21-14 near the end of the third quarter, a play that saw Brooks score on a 13-yard run, he would carry the offense.  Over the next two drives as Tech was trying to hang on to a lead while also milking the clock, Brooks would run 12 times for 64 yards against eight and even nine-man boxes.

On the final drive, with Tech needing to burn 5:30 off the clock to nurse home a one-point lead, he ran seven times for 34 yards while picking up four first downs.  UCF knew Brooks was coming their way and they could do nothing about it.

How refreshing is it to see that from the Red Raiders?  For years, the roles have been reversed with Tech being the team that was completely incapable of stopping the run with the game on the line.  Also, how many times has the ground game failed this program when it was necessary to run the clock down to preserve a win? This year, though, Tech has managed to grind out wins over Baylor, Kansas, and UCF by running the ball through defenses that were geared up to stop the run.

Brooks ended the night with a career-high 182 yards to go along with his ninth TD of the year.  Averaging 7.3 yards per carry, he was also efficient as he needed only 24 carries to get his numbers.

This was a fitting sendoff for one of the best players in recent program history, one who cemented his legacy as a Red Raider with another huge night.  It was the only way he could end his Red Raider home career.