Texas Tech proved this team is different as the Red Raider defense dominated vs Utah

It’s not often that you see a Texas Tech Red Raider football team dominate with defense. It’s just not something the program has been known for. The Red Raiders have flat out been awful on defense over the past few decades.

And on Saturday afternoon, there was an opportunity for Texas Tech’s defense to prove that nothing had changed. 

That’s not what happened though.

The Red Raiders, bolstered by a ton of transfer portal talent, proved that they can be stifling and imposing on defense. Utah’s offense entered the game as one of the most productive in the country. They were scoring upwards of 45 points a game and gaining over 500 total yards of offense per game.

That wasn’t the case when Texas Tech showed up in Salt Lake City.

Texas Tech’s defense truly clamped down on what has been an otherwise impressive offense from the Utah Utes

The Red Raiders held Utah to just 10 points and 263 total yards on Saturday. And that’s impressive. That’s something that should be highlighted. It’s something that Texas Tech fans should be celebrating right now and college football fans in general should be impressed by.

Joey McGuire is right. Texas Tech is a defensive team.

I mean, some of the plays that Texas Tech’s defense pulled off against the Utes in Salt Lake City were truly remarkable. The Red Raiders managed to pick Devon Dampier off twice and recovered two of three fumbles.

And again, this was a Utah team that was efficient and effective and productive in every game other than this one. 

This probably isn’t the best offense on Texas Tech’s schedule, but this performance should serve as a warning to every other offense ahead on the schedule that the Red Raiders have the talent and depth to cause plenty of headaches for opposing offensive coordinators.