Red Raiders Pass, Run All Over Mountaineers, Decimating West Virginia 48-10

“Neal Brown with nothing but angst” was a line said on the FS1 broadcast and very fitting to describe West Virginia’s time in Lubbock against Texas Tech.

At the start of the game, it was the Red Raiders putting pressure on WVU almost immediately upon the opening kickoff. Texas Tech found pay dirt on each of their first two offensive possessions. Taj Brooks finished off both drives with short runs into the end zone, putting Texas Tech up 14-0. The second score was aided by a successful conversion on 4th and 4 in red zone territory. WVU would add a field goal, keeping Casey Legg perfect, as the first quarter closed with the Mountaineers trailing 14-3.

Despite throwing only one incompletion out of his first 10 pass attempts, quarterback JT Daniels was unable to get his team a touchdown until the second half. This was while Texas Tech continued to march up and down the field, converting 4th and short after 4th and short throughout the half. WVU was able to swing momentum after finally forcing the Red Raiders to turn the ball over on downs when Aubrey Burks sacked quarterback Behren Morton. Unfortunately for the Mountaineers, the momentum did not lead to points. After a stop on defense, WVU was able to get the ball back with about a minute left on the clock. The Mountaineers flirted with a touchdown before defensive back Darius Taylor-Demerson ruined the opportunity by picking off Daniels in the back of the end zone. It was then 17-3 in favor of the Red Raiders at the half.

A decision to defer and start with the ball to open the second half by Neal Brown had the potential to be a saving grace for WVU, but instead Daniels threw his second interception of the game. early in the quarter. Texas Tech quickly made Daniels and the Mountaineers pay for that mistake. Morton got himself on the board with a touchdown pass, connecting for 55 yards to wide receiver Xavier White. All of a sudden, the score became insurmountable with Texas Tech leading 24-3.

From that point on, WVU learned their miserable day in West Texas could actually get worse. Loic Fouonji caught Morton’s second touchdown pass to extend the Red Raiders’ lead to 31-3. But West Virginia showed they were not daed yet. Daniels found Bryce Ford-Wheaton to cap off the next WVU offensive drive, finally scoring that elusive touchdown and cutting the score to 31-10.

Any thought of WVU coming back and making it a game was dashed when Texas Tech running back Sarodorick Thompson, who joined Brooks as the second Red Raiders back with over 50 yards on the ground in the game, ran 13 yards for a score. Tack on a field goal on a later possession and the beat down in Lubbock became a 41-10 deficit for West Virginia.

Daniels day was over with about 11 minutes left in the game. Daniels finished his worst performance as a Mountaineer completing just 23 out of 36 pass attempts for 194 yards, a touchdown pass and 3 costly interceptions. This marks the first time in Daniels’ college career that he threw 3 interceptions and his first 2 interception game since 2018.

Garrett Greene was the quarterback who came in relief of Daniels for WVU, but could not mustard up any success for the offense. The Red Raiders proceeded to grind the clock and secured the win. Texas Tech would actually run their way to another score, making the final 48-10 for a Texas Tech homecoming game win.

West Virginia’s record falls back below .500 at 3-4 with the loss, and even worse, drops to 1-3 in conference play. Next up for the Mountaineers as they try to dig out of a pretty deep hole is a date with TCU in Morgantown on Saturday, Oct. 29.