... Texas Tech won its opener and was comfortably ahead of Sam Houston State from the 14:14 mark of the third quarter on. Normally, this is where I would say that the final score wasn't indicative of how the game went, but I'm not sure that's true in this case. There was never a point -- and, if there was, it was brief -- where the team's offense and defense were both rolling. The offense played great in the first half but tailed off in the second. The defense was a dumpster fire in the first half, but played better in the second.
... Frankly, this reminded me in many ways of last year's game against Central Arkansas in that the game ended up feeling more like a loss than a win. That sentiment was seemingly shared by the team and coaching staff, as there weren't any smiles in the postgame press conference. The Red Raider offense performed better (59 points) than it did against UCA, but the defense played worse (45 points). The team was flagged nine times, which is basically what it averaged per game in 2014 (9.3).
... Texas Tech giving up 351 rushing yards (7.6 yards per carry) on the ground to an FCS opponent is obscene. For the sake of comparison, that's the third-most an opponent has run on the Red Raiders in the Kliff Kingsbury era -- Arkansas 2014 (438) and Oklahoma 2014 (384). The four forced turnoers were great, but Texas Tech is going to lose a lot of games this season if David Gibbs and Co. can't figure out how to shore up the run defense.
... Concerning stat: Sam Houston State had 19 chunk plays -- runs of 10-plus yards and passes of 15-plus -- and Texas Tech only had 11.
... Sam Houston State went 4-of-8 on third-downs today when needing eight or more yards.
... Pat Mahomes was fantastic in the first half and less effective in the second. He wasn't helped out much after the break by his receivers -- Tony Brown, Justin Stockton and Reginald Davis all dropped passes that would have been big plays. Ultimately, Mahomes completed 62.2 percent of his passes for 425 yards, four touchdowns and an interception. He also rushed for 48 yards on five carries. That's not a bad way to begin the season, especially considering today was just his fifth career start.
... Taylor Symmank was great today. He averaged 47 yards per punt and only had one kick not go for a touchback.
... In fact, I thought special teams was an overall positive. Sam Houston State had negative three yards on two returns and just nine yards on its only kick return. Meanwhile, Texas Tech returned four kicks for 139 yards and a touchdown.
... Where in the world was the running game? For all the talk this offseason about the offensive line and DeAndre Washington, the team's top two running backs combined for just 20 carries for 99 yards and a touchdown.
... Kingsbury said he liked the matchup on offense in the passing game, which is why the Red Raiders didn't run it as much as expected.
... If Texas Tech had a decisive advantage on either line of scrimmage, I certainly didn't see it.
... Kingsbury called the offensive performance was "not very good" and "uneven." He said the young receivers lacked a "killer instinct."
... Kingsbury said he felt like the defense played "tremendous" in the second half.
... Kingsbury harped again on the offense's lack of a "killer instinct" and inability to "finish a game."
... "It was pretty average for those (receivers) as a group."
... Kingsbury said he was surprised at the number of drops. I was too.
... Branden Jackson said he told the defense after the game that they were the "same 4-8 defense" as last year until they prove it on the field. And they didn't do that today.
... Mahomes said he "missed a lot of reads and missed a lot of checks" but said he was overall okay with how he performed.
... Mahomes said he felt like the offense lost its focus in the second half.
... Pete Robertson missed today's game for an "internal team matter." Kingsbury confirmed that Reginald Davis was suspended for the first half due to a violation of team rules. Nigel Bethel missed the game due to injury.
... Frankly, this reminded me in many ways of last year's game against Central Arkansas in that the game ended up feeling more like a loss than a win. That sentiment was seemingly shared by the team and coaching staff, as there weren't any smiles in the postgame press conference. The Red Raider offense performed better (59 points) than it did against UCA, but the defense played worse (45 points). The team was flagged nine times, which is basically what it averaged per game in 2014 (9.3).
... Texas Tech giving up 351 rushing yards (7.6 yards per carry) on the ground to an FCS opponent is obscene. For the sake of comparison, that's the third-most an opponent has run on the Red Raiders in the Kliff Kingsbury era -- Arkansas 2014 (438) and Oklahoma 2014 (384). The four forced turnoers were great, but Texas Tech is going to lose a lot of games this season if David Gibbs and Co. can't figure out how to shore up the run defense.
... Concerning stat: Sam Houston State had 19 chunk plays -- runs of 10-plus yards and passes of 15-plus -- and Texas Tech only had 11.
... Sam Houston State went 4-of-8 on third-downs today when needing eight or more yards.
... Pat Mahomes was fantastic in the first half and less effective in the second. He wasn't helped out much after the break by his receivers -- Tony Brown, Justin Stockton and Reginald Davis all dropped passes that would have been big plays. Ultimately, Mahomes completed 62.2 percent of his passes for 425 yards, four touchdowns and an interception. He also rushed for 48 yards on five carries. That's not a bad way to begin the season, especially considering today was just his fifth career start.
... Taylor Symmank was great today. He averaged 47 yards per punt and only had one kick not go for a touchback.
... In fact, I thought special teams was an overall positive. Sam Houston State had negative three yards on two returns and just nine yards on its only kick return. Meanwhile, Texas Tech returned four kicks for 139 yards and a touchdown.
... Where in the world was the running game? For all the talk this offseason about the offensive line and DeAndre Washington, the team's top two running backs combined for just 20 carries for 99 yards and a touchdown.
... Kingsbury said he liked the matchup on offense in the passing game, which is why the Red Raiders didn't run it as much as expected.
... If Texas Tech had a decisive advantage on either line of scrimmage, I certainly didn't see it.
... Kingsbury called the offensive performance was "not very good" and "uneven." He said the young receivers lacked a "killer instinct."
... Kingsbury said he felt like the defense played "tremendous" in the second half.
... Kingsbury harped again on the offense's lack of a "killer instinct" and inability to "finish a game."
... "It was pretty average for those (receivers) as a group."
... Kingsbury said he was surprised at the number of drops. I was too.
... Branden Jackson said he told the defense after the game that they were the "same 4-8 defense" as last year until they prove it on the field. And they didn't do that today.
... Mahomes said he "missed a lot of reads and missed a lot of checks" but said he was overall okay with how he performed.
... Mahomes said he felt like the offense lost its focus in the second half.
... Pete Robertson missed today's game for an "internal team matter." Kingsbury confirmed that Reginald Davis was suspended for the first half due to a violation of team rules. Nigel Bethel missed the game due to injury.
