- This is Texas Tech's first ranked win since 2019. It's the first time since 1989 the Red Raiders took down a ranked non-conference opponent at home (Arizona, 24-14)
- Red Raider QB's who wear No. 7 are 3-1 against Dana Holgorsen. Shoutout to the radio team for those facts.
- I posted in the live thread but in my eyes teams prior to this one in recent years probably would've folded in regulation. I had the Red Raiders chalked up and done on the 4th and 20. Leave it to Zach Kittley to gain 21 on a play he said was called "Double Z."
- Texas Tech's offensive line proved to be the true worry tonight. Weston Wright going down doesn't help that units future, but they somehow powered through. They'll need big time rest after today. Caleb Rogers struggled against a really good DE in Derek Parish. I'm quite surprised we didn't see a ton of holding calls on the Red Raiders in this one. Donovan Smith couldn't stay clean.
- While I brought it up, Houston had 11 penalties called for 121 yards compared to Texas Tech's six for 45.
- Smith struggled and looked pretty off in the offense pretty much the entire second half. Up 17-3, the Red Raiders felt good. But, as I think we'll see the rest of the year, Houston completed the epic comeback to force OT for the second-straight week for them. Donovan sometimes looked as though he might've checked out of some plays and kept the ball himself. We hope to found out how much control he has when it comes to checking out of plays. This was the biggest test early in the schedule. Smith went 36-of-57 for 351 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions. We'll see how they transition on the road against NC State, who won their game today in blowout fashion, 55-3, albeit against Charleston Southern.
- Some questionable plays were called during this game especially on third down. I wonder why they decided to spot the ball with 11 seconds left, call a timeout at eight seconds remaining then kick the field goal to tie. I would've taken a shot in the middle of the field or end zone then called a timeout. However, it doesn't really matter because it still worked in Tech's favor. *shoulder shrug*
- I'm curious as to how Adrian Frye has remained the punt returner. Nehemiah Martinez needs to be back there. Also, why not fair catch those punts instead of trying to make something out of nothing. I don't know if that's being coached but Frye needs to be aware. The Red Raiders need a special teams threat for sure.
- Martinez and Tahj Brooks played tough and aggressive today. Martinez didn't have much action in the second half but his five catches for 76 yards were hard fought. Brooks had a quiet 80 yards but his score in OT obviously was big "Tahj" time.
- Malik Dunlap was very impressive today. He was in position to make key pass breakups including the Clayton Tune pass in 2OT on third down to force the field goal, 33-30. He played lights out.
- Philip Blidi was putting in work in the trenches. He should've had a sack but a hold that sent back the Cougars took that away. But his TFL was big time. He's exploding onto the scene in Lubbock. He, Jaylon Hutchings, Tony Bradford Jr., and Tyree Wilson are making a name for themselves ahead of conference play.
- Krishon Merriweather was all over the field today. Losing Colin Schooler, Riko Jeffers, Jordyn Brooks (two years ago) had me worried that this would be the year that Tech would lose the Linebacker U tag that I give them. That doesn't seem like the case. Krishon was very aggressive. He pressured Tune multiple times to hurry up the Cougar QB. He led the team with eight total tackles today.
- Tim DeRuyter took over a defense that Keith Patterson really deserves a lot of credit for building. DeRuyter turned up the aggressiveness this game. The Cougars were 5-of-16 on third down. Another shoutout here - the strength and conditioning staff has this team working hard enough to survive regulation and two overtimes. We saw multiple times Houston players go down and tons of rotating in out. That wasn't the case from the looks of it for the Red Raiders.
- Texas Tech is 2-0 for the second-straight season with the first road trip coming up next Saturday in Raleigh against NC State. This win was hard-fought and I'll reiterate it - I think teams prior wouldn't have the same outcome (as we saw plenty of times) that we witnessed today.
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