Simply put, Texas Tech was the more excited team to play Saturday at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, downing West Virginia, 52-15.

Here are the takeaways from the action…

The odds were not in Texas Tech’s favor from the start with veteran defensive tackles Quincy Ledet and De’Braylon Carroll both sidelined due to injury. The defense managed quite well actually, considering its opposition fielded one of the best rushing attacks in the Big 12 averaging almost 200 yards on the ground per game.

Through the first half, the Mountaineers were only able to total 62 yards when adjusted for sacks, a far cry from their usual output that has been the heartbeat of their offense.

The onslaught on the quarterback was one that has become a rarity for the Red Raiders and they were able to sack Garrett Greene four times in the first half of action.

Terrell Tilmon, who has slowly seen his snaps increase as the season has gone along, produced two of those sacks. Tilmon also tacked on a forced fumble in the second quarter, which was recovered by Brenden Jordan and eventually turned into a Red Raider touchdown.

CJ Baskerville added onto his interception tally, seemingly jumping over a West Virginia wide receiver and ripping the ball away in another impressive display of his ball skills. The ESPN NFL Countdown segment “You Got Mossed” highlighted a catch from Jalin Conyers against Oklahoma State in its segment this week. Perhaps Baskerville is next.

And in true Take 3 fashion, the Red Raiders were able to get its third takeaway of the day in the final minute of action as Greene tossed a pass right into the hands of John Curry.

Playing in his final game at The Jones, Red Raider rushing king Tahj Brooks gave the home crowd one last show, even if he had to wait a little bit to let it loose.

After the first quarter of play, Brooks had only touched the ball twice and had 10 rushing yards to show for it. In the second stanza, Tech leaned on its legendary running back more, as Brooks toted the rock eight times to the tune of 83 yards and three second quarter touchdowns.

Brooks and the Red Raiders continued its dominance out of the Wildcat formation, which helped bookended his touchdowns from two yards out on two separate occasions.

The middle score was a stunner from the fifth year back, a 37-yard scamper which saw the Manor native spin off a defender and maintain his balance into the endzone.

Brooks finished with 188 yards on the day from 23 carries and can hang his hat on another hat trick of rushing touchdowns.

With his overall performance this season, Brooks became the only Red Raider to break 1,500 yards in a season twice.

A two-score lead did not slip away from the Red Raiders’ grasp and a continuous outpouring of points led Tech to a decisive 35-3 lead at halftime.

The Mountaineers won the coin toss and elected to receive, giving possession to the scarlet and black out of intermission.

The result was a touchdown, a 31-yard pitch-and-catch from Behren Morton to Caleb Douglas, the latter doing most of the work after the catch.

West Virginia did go on to snag a pair of second half touchdowns, but to the point of which they occurred in the contest, it was all in vain.

7-5 in 2022. 6-6 in 2023. Now head coach Joey McGuire can add an 8-4 record onto his resume for the 2024 season. The season as a whole will go down in the eye of the beholder.

From one vantage point, it admittedly is progress and the best regular season win total for the program since 2009, the last season of the Mike Leach era. From a different perspective, the Red Raiders were 5-1 at one point, holding a 3-0 record in the Big 12 with hopes well alive for a trip to Arlington before a two-game skid consisting of losses to Baylor and TCU.

Wrapping up the year with a pair of wins is certainly not anything anybody in the building would turn down, but is it a consolation for the potential that this team could have reached?

The highs and lows of a football season were fully encapsulated by this 2024 Red Raider squad. At the end of the day, though, 8-4 is nothing to scoff at, not around here, at least.