The Texas Tech football team defeated Cincinnati 44-41 in Lubbock on Saturday night, improving to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in Big 12 play. Here are some quick reactions to what we saw in this intense gunfight.
In the end, the game was decided by a field goal kick. Fortunately, the Red Raiders made the most of that exchange. Texas Tech continues to have a strange place-kicking rotation, but it remains the perfect plan so far.
Gino Garcia made field goals of 45 and 27 yards, and Reece Burkhardt made a 38-yard kick, making Tech a perfect team when it comes to field goals this season. Rotating these two kickers goes against the conventional wisdom that it’s better to let one kicker get used to being the “man.” But through almost half the season, the Red Raiders have made the most of their unique kicking situation.
Meanwhile, Cincinnati is not satisfied with the kicking situation after this game. Not only did Nathan Hawks miss a 42-yard kick late in the first half, he also missed the game-winning 51-yard kick. One-score games often come down to special teams, and this game was no different, and the Red Raiders won because they won the kicking game.
In a game that was supposed to feature two of the best running backs in the Big 12, only one made a difference for the team. Taj Brooks ran for 172 yards and two touchdowns on 32 carries. In the process, he passed Byron “Bam” Morris for fourth place on Texas Tech’s all-time rushing yards list.
Meanwhile, Ciny’s Corey Kiner only carried the ball three times for nine yards. After playing the Bearcats’ first series, he left the game with an injury and did not return.
Additionally, the Bearcats lost backup running back Evan Pryor to injury in the second half. As such, Tech had a huge advantage at running back.
The Red Raiders ran for 231 yards against a defense designed to stop the run. Meanwhile, QB Brendan Thorsby led UCF in rushing, gaining 52 of the team’s 129 rushing yards. Still, it’s a big difference when one team is led in rushing by a star running back with 172 yards and the other team is led by a lead-footed QB.
Although the Red Raiders did not reach their weekly goal of three strikeouts, they won the turnover battle 2-1, proving that they had made a big breakthrough.
The Red Raiders lost a fumble by Josh Kelley on a punt return in the first quarter. However, the Tech defense was able to come to the rescue by allowing the Bearcats a field goal.
Meanwhile, Tech recovered a fumble on its first possession of the second half, leading to a touchdown. Then, early in the fourth quarter, Red Raider safety AJ McCarty hit a game-changing pick-six.
Overall, the Red Raiders won the turnover point battle 14-3, which was one of the biggest factors in this victory.
It wasn’t a defensive record to be proud of. The Tech team gave up 555 yards of total offense, 426 of which came through the air.
Much of the struggle was due to the Red Raiders missing an unusual number of key players in their secondary. Tech’s best corner, Bralynn Lux, did not play, and neither did backup corner Jalen Peoples.
Then, during the game, Tech lost safeties Chapman Lewis and Jordan Sanford, forcing third-stringer Joseph Plank to play critical snaps. There is a lot of adversity to overcome.
This Red Raider secondary is not deep. It’s not very good at full power either. Still, the Red Raiders overcame massive injury problems within their position group and played well enough to win.
Yes, the Red Raiders managed to record one sack tonight. But that was a play where Thorsby was tackled and lost while trying to run the ball.
Still, aside from one crucial play, the pass rush was non-existent. On McCarty’s pick-six, Tech blitzed linebacker Ben Roberts, who came close to sacking Thorsby. Fortunately, he had Thorsby throw the ball early and the ball reached McCarty, who brought it home.
But edge rushers like Isaac Smith, Amiah Washington, Harvey Dyson, and Charles Esters don’t provide any pressure off the edge. In the end, it would catch up to the Red Raiders and cost them the win.
