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What a game. What a weekend indeed. The college football world was rocked this Saturday and Texas Tech took part in that chaos, beating 25th ranked Houston in a doubleheader.
Sophomore quarterback Donovan Smith led the way for the Raiders and, despite struggling in the second half, ran for Tech’s winning touchdown.
It’s the second year in a row that Texas Tech has taken down a top-25 Houston team and the Raiders have another year of bragging rights. It wasn’t all good news for Tech, as they had their own issues on the offensive line and turnover battle.
Houston was inches away from stealing this game more than once. Still, coach Joey McGuire has to be happy with his two games at the helm of Lubbock.
A tale of two halves for Donovan Smith
Sophomore quarterback Donovan Smith got his first start of the year in this one and things looked promising early. He led Tech to a 17-3 halftime lead with over 200 yards and two touchdowns entering halftime. The narrative changed in the second half as Smith threw three interceptions and Houston came back to take a 20-17 lead. Smith then drove the Red Raiders down the field to score the game-tying run.
In overtime, Smith looked like a first-half version of himself. The Raiders came back and won 33-30 in two overtimes thanks to a flurry from Smith himself. The sophomore finished with 379 total yards, two touchdown passes and a game-winning rushing score.
With Tyler Shaw’s time in Lubbock over, Smith is definitely the quarterback of the future for Tech, but there is still some polishing to be done.
Red Raider offensive line needs work
Part of the reason Smith played worse in the second half was because Houston dialed up the pass rush after the game. of The Cougars were able to muster a total of five sacks against the Raiders as Tech’s offensive line looked completely out of sync.
Almost every poor throw that came out of Smith’s hands, the Cougars pounced on it. The Raiders will need to shore up that front five as they enter conference play this fall.
The line looked safer in overtime, but that could be due to Houston losing their legs late. Regardless, the Raiders have a tough job in the stands.
It was not a running game
Texas Tech running backs posted just 76 yards on the day, including overtime. Many of them, again, fall on the offensive line. Tahj Brooks carried the ball 16 times and had a very small front drive, totaling 67 yards.
While the run was ineffective, the Raiders didn’t seem to try to run it either. In fact, their leading ball carrier was quarterback Smith, who carried the rock 19 times on the ground.
Brooks was able to score in overtime, which begs the question; Why not run it further? Maybe Tech knows their offensive line is overrated, but the lack of any balance makes their job that much harder. When all was said and done, the Red Raiders threw the ball 59 times.
Special teams, special teams, special teams
This game would not have gone to overtime if the Raiders hadn’t missed two early field goals. Kicker Trey Wolf made a late kick to send the game into overtime, but he punted one early, giving Tech a much-needed cushion.
Wolff was able to bounce back and didn’t miss the night again, perhaps solidifying his position as a place saver.
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