Texas Tech took down North Texas 66-21 on Saturday, improving to 2-1 on the year, and providing a better feeling heading into Big 12 Conference play.

For head coach Joey McGuire, the Red Raiders were able to settle in by getting their best player back in the fold, running back Tahj Brooks.

"It was great to have 28 back," McGuire said. "Tahj Brooks came out. I mean, you could see that he was on a mission early in the game. He had big runs. He did great job in pass pro. And when that happens, you got number two, our quarterback, Behren Morton, that can really settle in and operate the way he did."

Brooks was a part of the Red Raiders 52-point first half, posting a touchdown run and 109 rushing yards on 17 carries while being set up by the Tech defenses stand out day.

The Tech defense created three turnovers, one returned for a touchdown, from three different defenders while posting 67 tackles as a team with no single player having more than five, a true team effort.

"It was good to see the defense step up," McGuire said. "We just lost leverage on one play on their first touchdown, but it's good to see them step up and they created a three turnovers, and we capitalized on them and so that, I thought that was huge. But it's good to have a game like this, get to two and one, and get ready for Big 12 play."

Getting ready for conference play will be huge for the Red Raiders as a red-hot Arizona State will come to Jones AT&T Stadium in just a week's time.

For Tech, it will be about carrying the momentum built against the Mean Green into next weekend after silencing some of the doubts that have been cast onto the Red Raiders.

Tech's offense was able to find a rhythm, behind Morton's settled in play in the first half, while the defense was able to put on a show after falling flat through two weeks for multiple reasons.