No. 13 Texas Tech left its opener with a lopsided win and one clear point of emphasis before heading to Oregon State: finish drives better once the Red Raiders get close.
Texas Tech rolled past FCS opponent Abilene Christian 33-10 last week, building a 17-0 lead before halftime and never facing real danger. The lone touchdown the Red Raiders allowed came on a kickoff return in garbage time, so the result was never in doubt.
Still, the numbers inside the 20-yard line showed room to clean things up. Texas Tech reached the red zone five times and came away with points on all five trips, but three of those possessions ended with short Stone Harrington field goals.
That kind of efficiency can be good enough in a runaway. It’s a different story against a stronger opponent.
“We've got to execute better and we've got to have a better plan on first and second down,” Texas Tech offensive coordinator Mack Leftwich said when asked about the red zone woes. “The drives that we weren't successful down there, you look at it; it was 3rd-and-12, 3rd-and-12, 3rd-and-13 and 3rd-and-14.”
Leftwich said he put some of that on himself, noting he got too aggressive at times while trying to hit a big play. The focus this week is on being more consistent in the passing game when the field shrinks inside the 10-yard line.
Quarterback Will Hammond, who went 26 of 33 for 298 yards and a late touchdown, said Abilene Christian made Texas Tech work for everything it got.
“I think they keyed in certain plays that we were running,” Hammond said.
He also said the Red Raiders were careful not to show too much of the offense, something that could matter again when they take on Oregon State in Corvallis in a late Saturday afternoon kickoff.
The Beavers enter at 0-1, but their opener was far more competitive than the final score might suggest. Oregon State went to then-No.
23 Houston as a 20 ½-point underdog and still had a real shot late, pulling within 26-20 after AJ Newberry’s 4-yard touchdown run with 9:02 left. The comeback bid fell short when the Beavers couldn’t get the stop they needed.
Mercer transfer Braden Atkinson flashed plenty in his Oregon State debut, completing 29 of 48 passes for 376 yards and a touchdown. But he was sacked four times, and the Beavers never found enough on the ground to take pressure off the passing game.
First-year coach JaMarcus Shephard didn’t sugarcoat it.
“We're better than that,” Shephard said. “I was very emphatic about that and I'm continuing to let them know we're a better football team than what we showed on Saturday.”
For Oregon State to back that up, it will need a much stronger showing on both lines. Houston outrushed the Beavers 228-26, a brutal split that told the story of the game up front.
Texas Tech has taken both meetings in the series, including a 45-14 win last year in Lubbock.
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