LUBBOCK, TX — The Texas Tech Red Raiders (2-1) opened Big 12 Conference play against Arizona State (3-0) in Lubbock on Saturday, September 21, at Jones AT&T Stadium. The Red Raiders come off a big win over North Texas that stopped some grumblings among the Texas Tech Faithful, but they need a duplicate performance against Arizona State on Saturday.
FINAL: Texas Tech 30 ASU 22
1st Quarter
The Red Raiders received the opening kickoff and went straight to work on their home turf. Quarterback Behren Morton looked sharp early, completing passes to Coy Eakin and Caleb Douglas as the Red Raiders moved down the field. It was Tahj Time inside the 20-yard line as Brooks pushed Texas Tech inside the 5-yard line. A pass interference set Tech up at the 2-yard line with a 1st and goal before Morton hit Douglas for a 2-yard touchdown. Tech led 7-0 with 11:18 remaining in the 1st Quarter.
Texas Tech's defense picked up right where they left off last week against North Texas. On Arizona State's first possession, CJ Bakersville picked off the Sun Devils' Sam Leavitt to hand the ball back to the Red Raiders' offense.
Morton and the offense thanked the defense with another touchdown. After exchanging a couple of penalties, Morton hit Josh Kelly on a screen pass. With an armada of blockers in front of him, Kelly danced into the end zone for a 20-yard touchdown. Texas Tech led 14-0 with just over 7 minutes to play in the 1st Quarter.
This article will be updated as the game progresses.
The Red Raiders experienced some adversity for the first time in the ballgame. Texas Tech was called for four penalties over the next five minutes. Three were on the defense, and one was on the offense.
Despite being called for pass interference and two questionable defensive holds, Texas Tech stonewalled Arizona State on 4th down at Tech's 14-yard line to give the ball back to the offense. However, an unsportsmanlike conduct called on third down killed the ensuing offensive drive. One of Tech's linemen took offense to one of the Sun Devils pushing off of Tahj Brooks on the bottom of the pile.
2nd Quarter
Penalties continued to kill Tech after the punt. A late hit called on a 2nd down pushed Arizona State deep into Red Raiders' territory at the 20-yard line. However, the defense delivered again to force a 4th down. Arizona State nailed a 34-yard field goal to put the Sun Devils on the board, but Tech still led with 13:12 remaining in the 2nd, 14-3.
Defense on both sides stepped up throughout the majority of the 2nd quarter. It wasn't until Arizona State found success near the end of the half that the stalemate ended. The Sun Devils went on a 9-play, 79-yard drive that Leavitt capped off with a 1-yard touchdown. The drive took more than five minutes off the clock as Arizona State narrowed Texas Tech's advantage to 14-10.
Texas Tech had less than two minutes to make something happen before the half. Tahj Brooks kickstarted the offense with a 25-yard run on the first play of the drive. He followed that up with another eight yard run before a pass interference called against Arizona State moved the Red Raiders into field goal range. Gino Garcia hit a 30-yard field goal to put Texas Tech back up a touchdown just before the half.
Texas Tech headed to the locker room up 17-10.
This article will be updated as the game progresses.
Texas Tech's Josh Kelly scores against Arizona State
(Credit: x.com/TexasTechFB)
Arizona State received the 2nd half kickoff, but Texas Tech forced a three-and-out. The Red Raiders took over at Tech's 38-yard line. Tech proceeded to go on a methodical, 12-play, 68-yard drive for another touchdown. Brooks ground out the majority of the yardage on the drive as the Red Raiders approached the end zone. Jalin Conyers punched the football into the end zone from three yards out to extend Texas Tech's lead to 24-10 midway through the 3rd quarter.
Arizona State responded later in the 3rd quarter. A broken coverage resulted in a long gain down the sideline. The Sun Devils Cam Skattebo punched the ball into the end zone on the next play. The 3-play, 80-yard drive took only a minute off the clock, and Arizona State was back in striking distance. A plus for the Red Raiders, Tech blocked the extra point, so they kept an 8-point lead, 24-16.
4th Quarter
Tech put together more points on the ensuing possession. More importantly, they took valuable time off the clock. The Red Raiders drove down the field before Arizona State forced a 4th down at the 22-yard line. Reese Burkhardt successfully made a 40-yard field and extended Tech's lead back to a 2-score game, 27-16
After another stop on defense, Morton led the Red Raiders on another time-consuming drive. The 11-play, 43-yard drive took another 5:45 off the clock and resulted in another Gino Garcia field goal. Tech led 30-16 with just under seven minutes to play.
Arizona State managed one more touchdown before the end of regulation, but Texas Tech recovered the onside kick. Morton lined up in victory formation and the Red Raiders defeated Arizona State 30-22.
Texas Tech (3-1)(1-0) moved to 1-0 in Big 12 Conference play with the victory over Arizona State (3-1)(0-1) on Saturday. The Red Raiders return to action on Saturday, September 28, when Texas Tech hosts the Cincinnati Bearcats at Jones AT&T Stadium. Kickoff in that matchup is still TBD.
STATS:
Passing:
- B. Morton - 24-44 201 yards and 2 TDs
Rushing:
- T. Brooks - 25 attempts, 117 yards
- C. Dickey - 3 attempts, 24 yards
- J. Williams - 2 attempts, 7 yards
- J. Conyers - 1 attempt, 3 yards, and 1 TD
- B. Morton - 2 attempts, -7 yards
Receiving:
- J. Kelly - 10 catches, 89 yards, and 1 TD
- C. Douglas - 5 catches, 63 yards
- C. Eakin - 3 catches, 29 yards
- T. Brooks - 2 catches, 3 yards
- M. Tharp - 1 catch, 12 yards
- J. Miller II - 1 catch, 5 yards
- M. Hudson - 1 catch, 0 yards
- D. McCray - 1 catch, 0 yards
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