The Matt Wells era got started off on the right foot with a 45-10 victory over the Montana State Bobcats. The Red Raiders dominated the ground game as well as the air in getting their first victory of the season.
Here is what head coach Matt Wells had to say after the game.
“A really good start to the game. I thought we came out ready to play on both sides of the ball. Hit a little bit of a lull there about the middle of the third quarter. I’d like to have finished it off at that point, but I was proud of the way our guys responded. We got a lot of guys in as the game went on in the second half.”
Coach Wells addressed the aggressiveness the Red Raider defense played with, especially linebacker Jordyn Brooks, who finished the game with 11 total tackles, one being a tackle-for-loss.
“First of all, defensively, Jordyn Brooks was all over the place. Truth be told, you win games, and you win games consistently as a program, with how you play up on the O-line and the D-line. Had some TFL’s early, had a big stop on third-and-short early. I think that set the tone on defense.”
Although Tech is famous for its air-raid offense, the Red Raiders ran the ball well, rushing for 255 yards on 40 carries among three running backs. The three backs: Ta’Zhawn Henry, SaRodorick Thompson, and Armand Shyne got plenty of touches with Shyne leading the charge with 128 yards on 11 carries and a score. Thompson had two touchdowns to go with 30 yards rushing on seven carries. Jax Welch even got some reps in with 18 yards on two carries.
Through the air, quarterback Alan Bowman showed how great of a quarterback he is, completing 40/55 of his passes for 436 yards and two touchdowns.
“You always hope for perfection,” Bowman said. “I think the game got started off well. I think we were seeing it pretty good. Coach Yost prepared me really well, on kind of what they (Montana State) were going to do. I had an idea going into the game. So, shout-out to the coaches and everybody executing.”
In the second quarter, Montana State made things a little interesting with a 31-yard touchdown pass from redshirt freshman quarterback Casey Bauman to Coy Steel, making it 14-7 (Tech leading) with just under ten minutes left in the half.
That was when Bowman got himself and his team back to work.
“We felt like the game was in our hands. Obviously, the score kind of showed it differently. We just kind of stayed the course, you know. We were playing well, they hadn’t stopped us, yet. We stopped ourselves. So, we just stayed the course and figured it out.”
And the Red Raiders did figure it out. Tech went on a 24-0 run until the 10:48 mark of the fourth quarter when the Bobcats tacked on a 37-yard field goal from kicker Tristan Bailey.
Overall, coach Wells was pleased with his team’s performance.
“I’m proud of our guys,” Wells said. “There’s been a lot of change since December 1. A ton of change for those guys. I’m proud of the way they reacted to it. I thought our guys did everything right the last 24 hours. We got to continue to make good decisions, but we’ll go right back at it. We’ll celebrate all wins and go right back at it Monday morning.”
On the receiving end, Lubbock kid and sophomore Xavier White led the haul with five catches for 107 yards and one touchdown. Junior wideout T.J. Vasher also grabbed six catches for 72 yards, and Dalton Rigdon caught six as well for 62 yards.
