The biggest question for me entering this game, and I assume for many of you as well, was which Texas Tech team was going to show up. Would we see the team that played clean, disciplined football for the first five games of the season or the team in Arlington that looked alarmingly like the last year's group? Kliff Kingsbury's team answered that question emphatically. The offense kept a clean sheet, the defense forced three turnovers, the penalties were manageable and the receiving corps wasn't plagued by drops.
I was also very curious to see how this team responded to a pair of tough losses. I saw a lot of people ask this question in different ways over the course of this week, and I think it's a very fair question to ask. Last year's team lost its first game on Sept. 13 and didn't win again until Oct. 18. The 2013 squad lost for the first time on Oct. 26 and didn't tickle the win column until Dec. 30.
Texas Tech had 15 possessions this afternoon -- including the final drive of the game -- and scored on 10 of them. Iowa State had 14 possessions and scored on five of them, with the final score coming after both teams had subbed out their starters.
Texas Tech's 66 points are the most scored against Iowa State in a single game since Baylor dropped 71 on the Cyclones in 2013.
ISU entered today's game with the Big 12's second-best pass defense and fourth-best scoring defense (20.3). Entering today, the Cyclones had given up 81 points and 779 passing yards on the season -- the Red Raiders almost doubled both of those numbers in one game (66, 515).
When was the last time Texas Tech was able to get its fourth-string quarterback into the game for garbage time? Congrats to Payne Sullins for earning a letter.
In fact, there were a number of guys buried at the bottom of the depth chart that saw action today -- Jakari Dillard and Caleb Woodward being two of the more notable examples.
Iowa State logged 10 chunk plays (run of 10-plus yards or a pass of 15-plus) this afternoon. Texas Tech had 17.
Pat Mahomes was incredible. Again. Like always.
I almost take him for granted at this point. He's been so good and so consistent, yet I have to remind myself that he's a true sophomore that just finished his 10th career start. Yet, there he goes, torching Iowa State for 428 yards and five touchdowns on 33-of-46 passing.
B.J. Symons was on the sideline for the game and told Level that he's been "really impressed" with Mahomes. "He's got big things ahead of him."
Halfway through the season, Mahomes is completing 64.9 percent of his passes and has accounted for 2,466 yards and 25 total touchdowns with five interceptions. For the sake of comparison, Graham Harrell completed 67.8 percent of his passes and accounted for 1,876 total yards, 19 total touchdowns and four interceptions through the first six starts of his sophomore season. And Harrell only played two Power Five teams during that span.
Kingsbury said after the game that he thinks Mahomes is "close" to 100 percent.
Virtually every Red Raider football player was on the sideline today, which is a departure from normal protocol. Players that weren't dressed out in uniform -- injured, redshirting, etc. -- were all wearing warmups. This was done presumably in an effort to increase energy on the sideline, and it worked. Kingsbury said that this was the "best sideline" he's had since becoming head coach.
It looked ugly on defense for the first half, but the game turned out to be similar to what we saw out of David Gibbs' unit in the first four games of the season. Iowa State moved the ball and picked up a bunch of yards but Texas Tech forced three turnovers and held the Cyclones to 31 points. That's not a great point total, but it looks better when you consider that the Cyclones had 14 drives -- 2.2 points per drive.
It had gotten to the point over the last two weeks (and for good reason) where "third down" was almost a four-letter word when talking about the Texas Tech defense. Not today, as Gibbs' bunch held ISU to just 5-of-15 on third down.
Dakota Allen continues to show up in the stat sheet. He again led the Red Raiders in tackles (11).
Le'Raven Clark. Grown ass man. Dale Pierson entered the game ranked second in the Big 12 in sacks and had a pretty quiet afternoon in Lubbock.
For as much criticism as the offensive line received (rightfully) last week, it seems only appropriate to acknowledge that Texas Tech's big guys played much better against Iowa State. They kept Mahomes' jersey clean and paved the way for a Red Raider ground attack that averaged 8.4 yards per carry.
DeAndre Washington didn't set a career high in rushing yards like he did last year against the Cyclones, but his fingerprints were all over this game despite a relatively average (by his standards) appearance in the box score. He had 120 all purpose yards (72/48) on 16 touches and scored two touchdowns. He continues to be criminally underrated in this conference.
Probably the most promising thing to come from this game, for me, was the performance of Texas Tech's young receivers, namely Jonathan Giles and Tony Brown. Giles scored two touchdowns and looks better and better every week. Brown had a relatively quiet day in the box score (three catches for 44 yards) but made two key blocks on Jakeem Grant's 75-yard catch and run touchdown in the first half.
Hey DeAndre, how good do you think this team can be? "I think the sky's the limit."
Texas Tech has now matched its win total from last year (4), posted its biggest blowout of a Big 12 opponent in two years and closed out the game without any significant injuries.
Red Raiders get the worst team in FBS next week, so it should be another name-your-score game.
