Sports

Texas Tech vs UT: Week Four Big 12 Opener

ttu qb Henry Columbi getting set to throw
Graphic by Campus Live Graphic Designer Adrian Gutierrez

Texas Tech vs UT Ends Badly For Red Raiders

In the Big 12 opener, it was an in-state rivalry with Texas Tech vs UT. The Red Raiders kicked off their Big 12 Conference play this past Saturday, September 25th, in Austin, Texas. TTU in their Big 12 Opener would fall horribly leaving a sour taste for Red Raiders. With Texas looking for redemption and Texas Tech looking to keep their streak alive, the Red Raiders would go out and give it their all. 

First Quarter

        As many have said before, the Red Raiders would need to be ready to come out hot in their Big 12 Opener if they were to hang with the Longhorns. Unfortunately, they would not do so by going down 14-0 early in the first. The first score of the game would be from Texas quarterback Casey Thompson to Bijan Robinson on a 38 yard for the first points of the glass. The game’s second score would come via Johnson for a three-yard run to put the Longhorns up 14-0. 

 Second Quarter

        The Red Raiders on their next drive would fare better by getting in the endzone. On a six-yard run from Tyler Shough, he would punch the ball in to make the score 14-7. Then the Longhorns would put together another dominant drive to go up 7-21 after a one-yard rush from Casey Thompson. 

         Texas Tech would go on to have a horrendous second quarter defensively. Allowing 28 points in the second, the Red Raiders would go into the half down 42-14. On top of the already devastating blowout, first-string quarterback Tyler Shough would go out of the game with a shoulder injury. After further review, Shough fractured his collar bone and will now be out for at least six weeks. 

Third Quarter

        Fast-forward past halftime, the team would need to come out and make adjustments for the second half. Unfortunately, this would not be the case with the Longhorns yet again coming out on fire. On a five-yard pass from Thompson to Whittington, the Longhorns would tack on another touchdown to go up 14-49. Fortunately, on the Red Raider’s next drive, Henry Colombi would drop an absolute 69-yard bomb to freshman Founonji to lessen the deficit to 21-49. 

        Texas, whose offense seemed like they could not be stopped, would drive down the field again and score on a three-yard touchdown pass. The score would now be 21-56 as the Red Raiders would be scraping to get back into the game. Colombi would do it again on the next drive and make a fantastic throw to Geiger. This time on a 75-yard complete en route to another Red Raider touchdown to make it 28-56 on the contest. 

        Now with the Longhorns back on offense against an almost nonexistent defense. Thompson would then complete a 62-yard pass to Worthy to add it on, making the score 63-28.

Fourth Quarter 

        Now in the fourth quarter, Texas would shut out the Texas Tech defense again. Then respond with another touchdown on a one-yard rush. The Red Raiders would not be out of the fight or give up and would have an impressive drive to end the game. This time the touchdown was courtesy of freshman quarterback Donovan Smith. Smith would record his first college first rush touchdown on a one-yard touchdown for the last score of the game for both teams.

Notable Players

        After TTU fell in their Big 12 opener, starting quarterback Tyler Shough would leave the game with an injury. Henry Colombi would take the keys to the Red Raider offense. While leading the offense, Colombi would have a fair game with 17 completions for 324 yards for three touchdowns and one interception. Moving forward, look for Colombi to lead the Red Raiders offense as the team improves. 

        With Tahj Brooks out for the game, the Red Raiders run game would be stagnant all game. The rushing leader for the team would be SaRodorick Thompson, who would only have 54 yards and an average of 3.4 yards. Tech moving forward will need to establish a run game to open up their offense further. 

        Eric Ezukanma would only have 56 yards in a shocker at the receiver position and would not be Tech’s primary receiver. In his second game in a row, Kaylon Geiger would lead the Red Raiders in receiving yards. He would do so with five targets for five catches for 100 yards and one touchdown. 

        Defensively there isn’t much to say when you allow your opponents to score 70 points. Colin Schooler would lead the Red Raiders with nine tackles, but the defense as a whole will need to have massive improvements by next week.

Overall on Texas Tech vs UT

        Overall, the Red Raiders will have much work to do moving forward as TTU Football would fall in the Big 12 Opener. Now they will prepare to travel to Morgantown, West Virginia, to take on the West Virginia Mountaineers. While the Texas Longhorns may be one of the top teams in the country, the Red Raiders will be back and better. 

        In a must-win game, the Texas Tech Red Raiders will take on the West Virginia Mountaineers at Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium. With both teams coming off losses from two of the powerhouse teams in the Big 12. Look for the Red Raiders to come out to prove a point. You can watch the game on ESPN 2 or Texas Tech Sports Network. As the game will kick off at 2:30 pm, Saturday, October 2nd. 

See how our recap compares with our predictions in our Texas Tech vs UT Preview

For Texas Tech’s entire football schedule click here!

Story by Campus Live Employee Trinity Porter

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