Texas Tech outlasts Oklahoma State in old-school Big 12 shootout

In recent years, the Big 12 has evolved from being a pass-happy air-it-out conference to being one where running backs and defenses have thrived. However, on Saturday in Stillwater, an old-school Big 12 offensive shootout took place between Texas Tech and Oklahoma State. Fortunately, the back-and-forth affair went the way of the Red Raiders 56-48.

The road team needed every bit of the 543 yards of offense that it posted to earn its seventh win of the season. That's because the defense was again unable to offer much resistance as in-game injuries left that side of the ball as thin as truckstop toilet paper.

Some will look at the win with a bit of skepticism given that the Cowboys are now 3-8 on the year and 0-8 in Big 12 play. However, this was a significant win for Tech, and not just because it was only the third time since 2001 that the Red Raiders have beaten Oklahoma State in Stillwater.

First of all, it guaranteed that Tech will have a winning Big 12 record for the third year in a row. In fact, Joey McGuire is the first Texas Tech head coach to post a winning conference record in each of his first three seasons on the job.

Additionally, Tech now has a chance to get to eight regular-season wins by beating West Virginia at home next Saturday. That's significant because the program hasn't won that many regular-season games since 2009.

Finally, Saturday's result assured Tech of having a winning road record in 2024. That's important because for the first two years of McGuire's tenure, winning games away from Lubbock was this program's biggest struggle.

So while it wasn't glamorous or dominant, the win over the Cowboys was a significant step forward for this program. And here are some rapid reactions to what transpired in the Red Raiders' most recent win.

Behren Morton is Texas Tech's offensive catalyst for perhaps the first time in 2024

For most of the season, QB Behren Morton has been a facilitator for the Red Raiders. Given that Tahj Brooks has been such a workhorse, Morton has rarely had to win games with his arm.

Prior to Saturday, he had not thrown for more than 286 yards against a power conference team. What's more, his high in passing yards in a winning effort against an FBS team was 273 yards which he threw for against North Texas when he played in only the first half as the Red Raiders blew out the Mean Green.

Against Oklahoma State, Morton needed to be at his best because, for almost all of the game, the Cowboys sold out to keep Tahj Brooks from running wild. Fortunately, Morton was up to the task throwing for 366 yards and 4 touchdowns with only one pick. He completed 35 of the 50 passes he attempted (70%) as well.

It was arguably the best game he's ever played and Tech needed every critical play that Morton made. He even picked up a crucial 3rd-and-11 with his legs late in the fourth quarter to extend a drive as Tech was trying to drain the clock while backed up near its own endzone.

In this game, Morton was the focal point of the offense, not Brooks, and he delivered with a monster game. This is certainly the type of performance Tech fans have been waiting to see from their junior QB all season.

Tahj Brooks finds a new way to impact the game

Though Oklahoma State had the worst rushing defense in the country entering this game, there wasn't a ton of running room for Tahj Brooks outside of the 40-yard TD scamper he had on 4th down early in the 4th quarter (on the same play that he scored the game-winning touchdown at Iowa State, by the way).

Yes, Brooks did end the game with 133 yards on 28 carries. But outside of that 40-yard score, he averaged only 3.4 yards per rush.

However, as a receiver, Brooks was able to have a huge impact on the game. In fact, he led the team with nine catches for 65 yards and a TD. That's not been part of his game that we have seen on display throughout his career.

His best play of the game was the 25-yard TD grab he hauled in to put Tech up 21-14 with 5 seconds left in the first half. On that play, he ran a seam route and had to extend his body as far as he could to haul in the pass from Morton. It would have been a difficult catch for just about any receiver but it was especially impressive coming from a running back who isn't known as a receiver.

Brooks was spectacular again in this game but not only because of what he did on the ground. He went deep into his bag of tricks and was a critical component of the Red Raider passing attack on a day when yards on the ground were tough to come by.

Texas Tech wins another one-score game

Finally, it is worth mentioning that Tech won yet another one-score game. That is now six wins on the year by eight points or fewer.

The only game that Tech has won by double digits thus far was the North Texas game in week three of the season. Other than that, Tech's average margin of victory this year has been just 4.5 points.

That's a sign that the Red Raiders are not talented enough to blow out teams, even those that are winless in the Big 12 like Oklahoma State. But it is also a sign that this program has figured out how to make enough plays in close games to win far more one-score affairs than they lose.

In fact, during McGuire's tenure, Tech has gone 13-4 in games decided by one possession. I don't know exactly what McGuire's formula is for one-score wins because conventional wisdom suggests that those games are toss-ups. But obviously, he's done something to teach his team how to come up big in tight contests. That's a great trait for a program to have in a conference like the Big 12 where parity and close games are the norm.