Texas Tech had one really great offensive drive in the first half and then one kind of okay offensive drive in the first half. And that’s about it. Texas Tech is currently leading 10-3 after a sloppy first half of play between the Red Raiders and the Utes.
The defenses are absolutely dominating play right now and that’s not great for Texas Tech’s offense. However, it’d be one thing if Texas Tech’s offense was just being outplayed. The Red Raiders are also making plenty of mistakes.
And that’s arguably the bigger issue here. Time and time again, Texas Tech has made plenty of unforced errors and penalties and that’s limiting what the Red Raiders are able to do on offense.
Texas Tech’s first half vs. Utah Utes was marred by several mistakes that limited what the Red Raiders were able to accomplish
In the first quarter alone, Texas Tech had three penalties that moved them back a total of 25 yards. Which, folks, that’s not great.
A false start (which will be a common theme for the Red Raiders in this game) turned a manageable 3rd-and-5 situation into a tricky 3rd-and-10 situation. Then there was a kick catch interference, which gave Utah better field position that the Utes were thankfully unable to do anything with.
The Red Raiders also had another false start in the first quarter, which isn’t good.
In the second quarter, the false starts continued. The Red Raiders had two more false starts. It’s so incredibly discouraging seeing the pre-snap mistakes and communication problems for Texas Tech’s offense.
Then there’s a holding and a roughing the kicker call to wrap up the seven penalties for 73 yards from the first half alone for the Red Raiders.
On top of that, Texas Tech quarterback Behren Morton has been struggling with Utah’s defense. He’s been picked off twice, once in the first quarter and then again in the second quarter. And he’s fumbled after getting hammered on a sack (but the Red Raiders recovered that one).
Texas Tech is going to need to play a cleaner game in the second half to prevent this one from going Utah’s way. Thankfully the defense is continuing to hold for the Red Raiders. Hopefully that continues.