Joey McGuire and the Texas Tech Red Raiders are rolling right now, folks. After getting a solid win over the BYU Cougars last weekend, Texas Tech showed up to Senior Day today with the intention of getting its 10th win of the season and that’s exactly what happened for the Red Raiders.
It was lopsided. It was explosive. Both Texas Tech’s offense and defense dominated in so many different ways. And now the Red Raiders sit at 10-1 on the season, are headed into a bye week, and are poised to jump into the Big 12 championship game without any issue.
I’ve got a few thoughts on this 48-9 win and all of them are good
No. 1: Texas Tech’s defense continues to be truly stifling for opposing offenses, which is good
I don’t know that we can say enough about just how impressive Texas Tech’s defense continues to be for the Red Raiders. I feel like I say that on a very regular basis right now, but I truly am very impressed with the way the Red Raiders are routinely dominating on defense.
Against UCF, the Texas Tech defense managed to record four sacks and also had a total of eight tackles for loss. It’s so good to see Texas Tech able to win at the line of scrimmage on the defensive side of things. That’s what the Red Raiders have needed for a while.
Then there’s Jacob Rodriguez, who led Texas Tech’s defensive effort with nine tackles and also managed to snag a pick.
The defense is good. It’s still a little surreal that we can say that about Texas Tech’s defense. But hey, let’s enjoy it.
No. 2: This game was over by halftime, which afforded Texas Tech the chance to protect its starters
Texas Tech jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter and then piled on by extending the lead to 38-2 in the second quarter. Shoutout to the impressive scoring explosion of 24-2 in the second quarter alone. The multiple explosive plays in the first 30 minutes of the game really allowed the Red Raiders offense to get a chance to get Behren Morton off the field.
And that means that you don’t run the unnecessary risk of your already injured starting quarterback taking another injury.
The fact that Texas Tech was able to protect Morton while also still holding on to its lead without any issue is exciting and it’s also fun seeing Mitch Griffis get some playing time.
No. 3: It's so much fun seeing the Red Raiders run the ball so effectively
At this point, I just about fully trust Texas Tech offensive coordinator Mack Leftwich to be able to develop an effective offense no matter if Morton is fully healthy or not.
And yeah, I get that things didn’t go all that smoothly with Will Hammond at times in the middle of the season when Morton was out, but the Red Raiders seem much more intent on running the ball effectively and doing so in a variety of different ways.
It’s worth noting that UCF’s defense isn’t exactly what Alabama trotted out onto the field back in 2011, but it’s still really impressive that the Red Raiders managed to run for 205 yards on 35 carries and that Texas Tech scored five touchdowns on the ground against the Knights.
It’s fun seeing that happen. It’s fun watching it all unfold. And it’ll be fun to see if Texas Tech can continue to rely upon its running game when competition gets tougher once again.