Texas Tech 59, Sam Houston State 45: What We Learned

The Red Raiders’ offense outgunned the Bearkats 59-45 in Lubbock. What did we learn from the game? TexasFootball.com brings you three takeaways from the game.Patrick Mahomes was the right call at QB for Tech. In a vacuum, you can make a reasonable argument for Davis Webb over Mahomes as a quarterback. But for the Red Raiders, the right guy was out there. Mahomes made just about all of the throws, cued up an offense that started boat racing on the plains, and showed an athleticism that will save him in ways Webb’s could not when pass protection breaks down. Exhibit A: H8Da1TgtUb-2 Against a team Tech should emphatically beat every year if it has aspirations of returning to the success of the peak Leach years, Mahomes did what he was supposed to and finished 32-of-52 for 413 yards and 4 TDs and chipped in 44 yards rushing, most of which came on this slick little scamper. npmNJ3MyYc-2 If you had any inkling that perhaps the choice of Mahomes over Webb wasn’t particularly emphatic for Kliff Kingsbury, Mahomes still getting reps up 59-38 in the middle of the fourth quarter should clear it up for you. It’s important to note that Mahomes also had two perfect balls in the fourth quarter that were dropped that almost surely would have been touchdowns if the receivers held on. Tech’s rush defense is going to be a HUGE problem. Again. If you watched, you got used to hearing the commentators say “Another big hole, and another first down” for Sam Houston State. The 45 points surrendered to the Bearkats isn’t just a red flag, it’s a blazing inferno still raging outside AT&T Jones Stadium. If the Tech defense allowed 636 total yards, and a staggering 316 yards on the ground against an FCS team, what the heck do you think is going to happen when TCU and Oklahoma and Baylor are lining up across from the Red Raiders? Going into halftime, Kingsbury told the FOX sideline reporter that his team needed to make more stops. Any kind of stop on any running play would have been a start. You can’t outshoot everyone without better defense, especially with the offensive attacks in the Big 12. Clean up the turnovers, and the Bearkats will more than justify their Top 5 FCS ranking. Sam Houston State turned the ball over 4 times and still scored 45 points against Power 5 school that’s pretty salty at home. The Bearkats also had more total yards than that Power 5 school, 636-598. Jared Johnson looked dynamic at times in the first half, completing 14-of-24 on the day for 125 yards, and Jeremiah Briscoe was Sam Houston’s more efficient passer, completing 22 on 28 attempts for 195 yards and a score. The dual QB approach looks pretty viable after an output like that, and total production of the offensive unit was beyond impressive. Giving up 59 points in the opener is far from ideal, but it’s hard to imagine the Bearkats lining up against as much talent as they did in Lubbock once their FCS slate begins.