Texas Tech looked every bit like a team that needed a statement, and it made one in a hurry Saturday in Lubbock.
After an open date, the Red Raiders came out sharp and stayed ruthless, rolling past Arizona State 53-25 to move to 6-0. By the end of the weekend, Texas Tech will stand as one of only six unbeaten FBS teams, and it will reach the midpoint of the regular season sitting alone in first place in the Big 12.
The separation came early and never really closed. Ben Roberts opened the floodgates with a pick-six on Arizona State’s first possession, and from there J’Koby Williams and the offense kept landing punches. Williams ripped off touchdown runs of 62 and 38 yards in the first half, helping Texas Tech surge past 400 yards of offense before halftime.
Will Hammond added to the damage with a 9-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, then found Coy Eakin for an 11-yard score just before the break. By halftime, the Red Raiders had already built a 43-10 cushion.
The second half was much more subdued. Arizona State turned to its backup quarterback, while Texas Tech settled into a soft zone, and the game took on the feel of a seven-on-seven summer scrimmage. The Sun Devils outscored Tech 15-10 after halftime, but the outcome was long settled.
Still, this was the kind of blowout the Red Raiders needed on the résumé. A win over an unranked opponent won’t grab national headlines by itself, but this one gave Texas Tech something it had been missing: style points. The kind of performance that chips away at the idea that the Red Raiders are not a worthy top-10 team because their earlier wins hadn’t been convincing enough.
This was the sort of result people had been waiting for from Tech all season. The noise about unimpressive wins finally has less oxygen.
J’Koby Williams was the headline act
Williams turned in the kind of game that can define a season. He needed just 11 carries to pile up 165 yards, an eye-popping 15.0 yards per attempt.
With Cam Dickey out because of an ankle sprain, Williams delivered in his first game this season without him. Texas Tech gashed Arizona State on the ground for 260 yards on 37 carries, a 7.0-yard average that marked the offense’s best rushing day of the season.
The linebackers keep driving this defense
Texas Tech’s linebacker trio stayed front and center again. Roberts’ first-quarter touchdown gave the Red Raiders four pick-sixes from their three linebackers, and all three have now recorded at least one.
Roberts, John Curry, and Austin Romaine combined for 17 tackles, two tackles for loss, one touchdown, two interceptions, and 0.5 sacks. Romaine led the group with eight tackles and continued building momentum after a slow start to the season. Together, that trio powered the defense, especially in the first half.
The pass rush finally showed up in force
For much of the season, Texas Tech’s pass rush has been close without quite finishing the job. That changed against Arizona State.
The Red Raiders piled up six sacks against a Sun Devil offense that had allowed only nine all season entering the game. A.J. Holmes led the way with 1.5 sacks, and Trey White, LaDamion Guyton, Mateen Ibirogba, Marcus Ramone-Edwards, and Romaine also got to the quarterback.
Hammond did his job
Hammond’s eighth career start was steady and efficient. With the run game rolling, he did not have to carry the entire offense, but he still made the throws and runs that mattered.
He finished 18-of-26 for 232 yards with one passing touchdown. On the ground, he added six carries for 25 yards and a score.
Most importantly, he protected the ball. This was his second straight game without a turnover after giving it away in each of the first four contests.
Texas Tech quieted Arizona State’s receivers
The Red Raiders also did a strong job limiting Reed Harris and Omarion Miller, especially before the game got out of hand. The pair combined for 121 yards on 11 catches, which was only three more yards than Harris had been averaging per game coming in.
At halftime, with the result already tilting heavily toward Texas Tech, those two had only three catches for 34 yards. They became more involved after the break, and Harris added a touchdown reception, but they never mattered when the game was still in doubt.
Texas Tech handled the challenge in every phase, and Saturday’s performance looked like the kind of win the Red Raiders had been waiting to put on tape.
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