Texas Tech’s Defense Holds the Cougars in 27-24 Win in H-Town
The Texas Tech defense has been beaten and battered for so long it's hard to imagine a game where they outplay the other team so handily that the offense only has to score 27 points. But that's exactly what happened today, as the Texas Tech Red Raiders beat the Houston Cougars 27-24.
The Houston Cougars opened the 1st quarter with the football and from the 3rd play from scrimmage Dakota Allen intercepted the pass from Kyle Allen and returned it to the Houston 32. Texas Tech would convert the field goal to take a 3-0 lead.
After a punt from each team, Texas Tech would put another field goal on the board, making it 6-0 at the end of the 1st quarter. On the first Texas Tech drive in the 2nd quarter, the Red Raiders would go 86 yards in 11 plays, finishing on a 3-yard touchdown run from Desmond Nisby. That would make it 13-0.
After a huge kickoff return to nearly mid-field, Houston would break the bubble on the scoreboard with a field goal.
With the 13-3 lead, Texas Tech would make a huge play on the next Houston drive. Eli Howard forced a Kyle Allen fumble that would be returned inside the Houston 10. The return would be called back because of a block in the back by Howard. Nic Shimonek then gave it back on his first interception of the 2017 season. Houston would score a touchdown after starting on the drive on the Texas Tech 19.
To end the first half, Texas Tech would recover a fumble and drive all the way down to the Houston 10 before missing a field goal as time ran out.
At halftime, it was 13-10 Texas Tech.
In the second half, the Texas Tech defense only tightened up. On the first Houston drive, Jordyn Brooks would one-up Dakota Allen with an interception of his own. Houston would then punt on the next three drives before back-up quarterback Kyle Postma would lead the Houston offense to the first points of the Cougar second half. The Postma touchdown would make it 27-17 with 4:30 minutes left in the game.
The Texas Tech offense would break free in the second half after missing a second field goal with big plays of over 75 yards from Keke Coutee, Tre King and Justin Stockton.
The Coutee play would go for a touchdown, and the Stockton play would turn into six points after a holding penalty allowed Stockton to get over 100 yards on the drive and a touchdown.
Texas Tech would punt with 3:30 minutes left, but would retain possession after a badger grab from redshirt freshman DeMarcus Fields. That would be the 5th Houston turnover of the game, allowing Texas Tech to milk the clock all the way down to under 1:45 and force Houston to use their timeouts.
With a 27-17 lead, Texas Tech would turn the ball over on downs to allow Houston a chance to score 10 with under two minutes left.
Houston would pad their stats and score a touchdown with 15 seconds remaining.
Texas Tech would recover the onside kick and get in the victory formation to get the win, ending Houston's 16-game winning streak at home.
The Texas Tech defense would end the game with 427 yards given up -- 317 yards passing and 110 yards on the ground. Texas Tech also forced five turnovers, which was the ultimate difference in the game with the Red Raiders ending +1 in the turnover margin.
The Texas Tech offense would be padded by the big plays and end with 200 yards rushing and 321 yards passing. Texas Tech also led in time of possession. On the negative side, the penalties flowed early and often for the Red Raiders, as they got tagged 15 times for 117 yards.
Houston made this a game in the second half, but Texas Tech dominated overall. In fact, before the last two Houston drives, the stats prove it.
I believe Texas Tech safety Jah'Shawn Johnson said it best: