Heading into Saturday tied for the lead in the Big 12 conference, Texas Tech came out flat, suffering a 59-35 romp at the hands of cross-state foe Baylor. The Red Raiders moved to 3-1 in the league and 5-2 overall. Here are my takeaways from the action…
Special Teams blunders
Whiffed punts, poor kick coverage and a fumble on a kickoff sum up the amalgamation of Texas Tech’s less-than-ideal day on the third side of the ball.
What put the nail in the coffin was a three-play stretch early in the second stanza of play that proved to help define the kind of game the Red Raiders had in store.
A Tech drive stalled in its own territory, leading to a punt from Jack Burgess that Josh Cameron went on to return 73 yards and appeared to have scored. The return was deemed short at the one-yard line, and Baylor was able to find pay dirt on the next play.
The kickoff thereafter spelled more doom for the Red Raiders, as the pigskin bounced out of the arms of Drae McCray, which the Bears recovered hastily.
Though that drive for Baylor ended in only a field goal despite the Bears taking over in the red zone, it was this entire sequence that was indicative of the special teams’ faults that kept Tech from finding its footing early in the game.
Tech bullied on either side of the trenches
It has been well-documented the struggles for Texas Tech’s groups in the trenches. While the offensive line has consistently sputtered throughout the campaign, the defensive group had appeared to have turned a corner in Tucson two weeks ago.
Unfortunately for the Red Raiders, neither side of the line of the scrimmage found much fight against the Bears.
The offensive line was porous in the run game, the Bears accumulated tackles for loss in bundles and it was another lackluster product from Clay McGuire’s room.
Defensively, the sheer size and physicality from Baylor’s group put the Red Raiders in a bind all night. Pass rush was non-existent and Baylor’s rushing attack– which to this point had failed to find a consistently active face in the back field– was dominant.
The Bears had rushed for 142 yards in their previous two games combined, a mark they pushed well past with plenty of time to spare as Bryson Washington ran rampant behind Baylor’s well-sized offensive line. In total, the Bears amassed 255 yards, Washington accounting for 116 of those and two touchdowns.
Red Raiders drop first home game, lose "undefeated in Big 12" moniker
Pump the brakes on Arlington. The “undefeated” tag that Tech clung onto after downing Arizona State, Cincinnati and Arizona is no more. The list of gut punches that the program has taken under Joey McGuire is short, sure, but Baylor is now responsible for two of them.
The worst home loss under McGuire was in his debut season, two years ago, against this same Baylor program that he was certainly desperate to beat after making his way to the 806 from Waco.
It may not be numerically worse than it was two years ago, by a few points, this loss feels much worse for the Red Raiders. 59 points is the most allowed by this current staff, a tally that passed the 57 that playoff bound Texas hung on Tech last season.
The Red Raiders have to turn around quickly, with a road contest on tap at TCU in a week’s time. Kick time for the contest in Fort Worth has not been announced at this time.
