Texas Tech football 2023 rewatch: Winnable game at WVU slips through Tech's hands

No team wants to walk away from a game feeling like it let a winnable opportunity sneak by. That's what Texas Tech had to have experienced, though, after last season's 20-13 loss to West Virginia in Morgantown.

When the season started, this game was circled as a very manageable road game. That's because the Mountaineers were picked dead last in the 2023 preseason Big 12 poll.

However, after beating hated rival Pitt the week prior, the Mountaineers had some confidence and momentum heading into this Big 12 opener. What's more, after losing 48-10 to the Red Raiders in 2022, WVU was bent on revenge.

Meanwhile, the Red Raiders were still a bit staggered after a 1-2 start to the season. However, the hope was that week three's dominant victory over FCS opponent Tarleton State would jumpstart Joey McGuire's team.

Unfortunately, that didn't happen and Tech would drop yet another road game under McGuire's watch. So let's look back at the details of this game. But as we do, be warned that this could be a frustrating stroll down memory lane for Red Raider fans.

Tyler Shough shows remarkable toughness after serious injury

This game will be remembered from the Texas Tech perspective as the final time we saw QB Tyler Shough in scarlet and black (at least the Texas Tech version of that color scheme as he is playing at Louisville in 2024). Near the end of the first quarter, Shough suffered a broken ankle/leg on a play in which he scrambled with the football and was thumped by two WVU defenders.

What many may have forgotten about that moment, though, was that he actually stayed in the game and played another snap before exiting. What's more, that play was a pass attempt that asked him to plant his broken left leg and throw the ball.

Of course, the pass wasn't completed and immediately upon releasing it, Shough crumpled to the ground in agony. However, that incompletion was a reminder of just how tough Shough is.

It is far to label Shough as injury-prone. But we must also acknowledge his toughness and grit. In 2022 he worked his way back from a broken collar bone in week one to play the final five games of the season and lead Tech to a bowl win. And against WVU in 2023 he somehow stayed in the game when he had to be in absolute agony.

Now, some may say that Shough's leg likely went numb for a period of time and that's why he was able to gut through another play. Whether or not that was the case, no sensible fan will ever call Shough anything but tough.

Tech loses despite poor QB play from WVU

On the other side of the equation, West Virginia got below-average play from its QB position but still managed to win. In fact, the Mountaineers had to start their backup, freshman Nicco Marchiol, and he looked like one might expect a freshman to look.

Completing just 12 of 21 passes on the day, he threw for a paltry 78 yards and one TD. He was also picked off twice.

If there was anything Marchiol did effectively, it was running the football. He racked up 72 yards on 15 carries to keep the Tech defense off balance.

Still, in any game that in which your defense gives up fewer than 80 passing yards, you must find a way to win. However, because Tech's offense was so bad, especially at the QB position, that didn't happen.

Behren Morton plays poorly as he fights through his own injury

At some point in this game, Tech's backup QB, Behren Morton, sprained his throwing shoulder. That was one reason why he played one of his worst games as a Red Raider. But one has to wonder if he also was impacted by having to come off of the bench and try to win a Big 12 game for the first time in his career as all of his other Big 12 appearances before this game had been starts.

In three quarters of football, Morton was just 13-37 for 158 yards and one TD. If there was anything positive to say about his performance, it was the fact that he didn't turn the football over.

Still, Tech needed him to be better than he was. He really didn't out-play his true freshman counterpart and that was one reason why the Red Raiders couldn't prevail.

First half opportunities squandered

At halftime of this game, the Red Raiders had just 46 total yards of offense. Their longest drive of the first half covered only 20 yards and because of that, they squandered two fantastic opportunities.

In the first quarter, a Malik Dunlap interception set the Red Raiders up at the WVU 35. However, that drive would cover only 14 yards in six plays resulting in a 39-yard Gino Garcia field goal.

After Ben Roberts picked off a pass in the second quarter, Tech began another drive at the 50. However, Morton and the offense would gain just four yards and turn the ball over on downs.

The crushing play on that drive came when Jerand Bradley got behind the defense by at least ten yards but Morton woefully underthrew him leading to an incompletion on a play that should have been a touchdown. That should have been our first sign that Morton's shoulder wasn't right as that should have been a throw he could make with his eyes closed.

In all, Tech got two takeaways in the first half only to turn them into a mere three points. In a game that proved to be a one-score loss, that was a huge disappointment.

It was Tahj time...except when the game was on the line

To the credit of offensive coordinator Zach Kittley, he was smart enough to feature Tahj Brooks in this game. After Brooks ran for a career-high 158 yards the week prior, he put up 149 on 25 carries against a stout WVU defense.

Unfortunately, though, Brooks didn't find the end zone. What's more, he didn't touch the ball when the game was on the line.

On Tech's final drive, one that began at the TTU 28 with 3:45 to play, Brooks chewed up the defense. He carried the ball eight times for 35 yards including a critical 4th-and-two pickup of four yards to set his team up with a first-and-ten at the Mountaineer 11 with 43 seconds on the clock. Unfortunately, that would be his final carry of the day.

With the game on the line, Kittley went back to his old habits and tried to throw the ball into the endzone on a day when it was obvious that Morton was off his game. In fact, Tech would end the game with four straight incompletions.

What was most maddening was that Tech had two timeouts to work with meaning that Brooks could have gotten two carries and it wouldn't have drained the clock. Instead, the game was placed on Morton's injured shoulder. That's why this loss falls at Kittley's feet as much as it does at anyone else's.

Fortunately, for the remainder of the year, Brooks would be the featured weapon in the Red Raider offense. To his credit, Kittley would evolve and mature as a play caller and that's why Tech was able to salvage the season after a 1-3 start. However, one has to wonder if Tech could have beaten the Mountaineers for the fifth time in a row had Kittley figured out that it should have been Tahj time at the end of week four.