Discipline shines through in Texas Tech’s romp of Oklahoma State
Texas Tech’s discipline shined through in the 42-0 romp over Oklahoma State. The Red Raiders aimed to get back on track following a gut-wrenching loss at Arizona State last week. From the jump, special teams affected the game. J’Koby Williams returned the opening kickoff 99 yards for six. The punt block unit got home on a punt to set up Williams’ second score of the game.
“I thought special teams wise, that opened the game in a big way,” head coach Joey McGuire said following the win. “Of course, for a (kick return) touchdown. I don’t know where we are at in the nation on blocked kicks, but another punt block, we had one last week. Got another one. We were talking about it this morning at breakfast. Coach (James) Blanchard and I were talking about how Oliver Miles just finds a way to block a kick, or the group blocking the kick. I was proud of the guys.”
Texas Tech QB Griffis answers the call
There’s something about Texas Tech and needing to use multiple quarterbacks throughout the season. When Will Hammond went down with a non-contact knee injury, that shoved Mitch Griffis into the driver’s seat. The former Wake Forest QB commanded two eight-play drives spanning around 80 yards. He capped those drives off with a long touchdown pass to Caleb Douglas and a one-yard rushing score. Griffis’ presence on the team paid off.
“It’s huge because he’s a vet,” McGuire noted, continuing his complimentary dialogue of the sixth-year quarterback. “Whenever he went in, I think he went in on a fourth-and-one or two. We didn’t blink as far as going for it or not with our guy that’s been our third string quarterback. One reason is because he’s got a lot of confidence. Mitch is a very confident person and he brings, whenever people are around him, he brings that confidence to the group. We feel good about him going in there, I was proud.”
The next two weeks could determine everything
The Red Raiders can now move along from what some perceived as a de facto second bye week. Tech will next travel to Manhattan to take on Kansas State, a program Tech has not beat in a decade. After that, the Red Raiders will welcome BYU, who beat Iowa State on the road. The next two games for Tech could determine whether or not it has a shot at Arlington.
“If you look at K-State, they’re 4-4 but if you look at those four losses, it’s a combined 14 points. So they easily can be 5-3 or 6-2,” McGuire said. “They’re a really good football team. Coach (Chris) Klieman, have a lot of respect for him and his culture. It’s gonna be really tough. We’ve gotta focus on that one. BYU is undefeated. Hopefully they move up into the top 10, I think maybe they were 11th, but I hope they move up in the top 10. I don’t know who else has played today but even higher than that. (BYU coach) Kalani (Sitake) has done a phenomenal job…
We’ve gotta make sure we take care of business. We felt like this stretch was going to be a really tough stretch because you got a really physical football team. They take pride in being physical at K-State. We’re going to have to match that physicality.”
