Well, Texas Tech is now 11-1 folks. The Red Raiders went up to Morgantown, West Virginia and left with a dominant 49-0 win (and it really felt like Joey McGuire and Texas Tech decided to take their foot off the gas in this one, it could have been so much worse for West Virginia).
There’s a lot to talk about in terms of just how lopsided this game was, but let’s take a look at the stats and point to where the Red Raiders really shined.
Because to be completely transparent, I absolutely loved seeing these stats when looking at the box score from Texas Tech’s win in Morgantown:
No. 1: The truly impressive first down disparity is something to behold and appreciate here for Texas Tech fans
Folks, Texas Tech had more than three times the number of first downs that West Virginia got in this game. The Red Raiders had 24 more first downs than what the Mountaineers achieved. This is impressive. In total, Texas Tech had 33 first downs. The Mountaineers were held to just nine.
It’s not even close and it really points to how the Red Raiders were able to control so much of this game. That’s an encouraging thing to see as Texas Tech preps to face BYU in a rematch for the Big 12 championship.
No. 2: Texas Tech truly had possession for two-thirds of this game and that’s remarkable stuff
I don’t put too much stock in time of possession as a stat to pay attention to, but we can’t not talk about this one when the Red Raiders go on the road and have possession for literally two-thirds of the game against West Virginia.
It’s true! Literally! Fully! Two-thirds of this game! Texas Tech had possession for 40 minutes exactly. And that means that West Virginia had the ball for just 20 minutes. That’s impressive stuff.
No. 3: The Red Raiders were able to take full and total control of third downs on both sides of the ball
The offensive efficiency and defensive dominance were on display and observable in so many different ways, but one of my favorite is seeing the way that the Red Raiders weren’t at all impacted by West Virginia’s attempts to convert on third downs or the way the Mountaineers tried to half Texas Tech’s drives.
In this game, Texas Tech converted on 14 of 21 third down attempts, showing that the Red Raiders could sustain drives consistently. Meanwhile, Texas Tech also proved (yet again) that it can shut down opposing offenses by holding the Red Raiders to just 2-of-13 third down conversions.