TCU vs Texas Tech: Full highlights, final score and more

By Christopher Logue | Sep 26, 2015

Apparently defense was an optional phase this week in Lubbock, Texas as No. 3 TCU holds off Texas Tech’s bid for an upset.

Texas Tech gave everything they had at TCU as the Red Raiders attempted to pull off the monumental upset, but were one crazy play away from making that happen. I am still attempting to wrap my head around the last seven minutes of the game when the offense and the flurry of scoring kicked into its highest gear.

107 total points scored
1,317 total yards
68 first downs
11 lead changes
0 turnovers

If you’re a high school coach looking for motivation on offense, review the game with your team. If you’re looking at the game for defensive schematics, you might want to reconsider your profession.

The numbers can be viewed in two ways: The offenses were so good the defenses just couldn’t catch up or the defenses were so bad that the offenses could shine.

More from Big 12

Starting with Texas Tech, you couldn’t have asked for anything more from a Kingsbury coached team. High scoring with a barbwire attitude. That’s exactly what we got. The Red Raiders got a very respectable performance out of their young quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Even with discomfort in his knee, he was slinging the ball around and completed 25-of-45 passes for 392 yards and two touchdowns and accounted for another score running the ball.

Believe it or not, 38 percent of Texas Tech’s yards came on the ground and so did 72 percent of its scoring. Running back DeAndre Washington had a fantastic day, carrying the ball 22 times for 188 yards and four touchdowns. It was a well-balanced effort that fell just short for the Red Raiders.

All of the effort that was lost on the defensive side of the ball was put into the final play of the game that was spearheaded by Mahomes who shook some defenders to keep the fading hope going.

As it turns out, it was the best stop for TCU all game.

The Horned Frogs couldn’t be contained on offense, even when they were on their final drive. It all started and ended with the play of superstar quarterback, Trevone Boykin and wide receiver Josh Doctson.

Boykin was 34-of-54 passing for a whopping 485 yards and four touchdowns and was clutch in keeping drives moving with 14 rushes and 42 yards. Yes, Boykin’s statistics are pretty nice, but it was more about how Doctson was able to maneuver when Boykin got him the ball.

Doctson had the performance of his life with 18 receptions for 267 yards, both single-game records for TCU, and three touchdowns. But as great as he was today, the most important catch was the one that Doctson didn’t catch.

With Boykin facing a fourth and goal to go to win the game he looked to his go-to receiver who didn’t make the catch, but could be credited with an assist after the deflection came down to Aaron Green.

Did you see how @TCUFootball took the lead with :23 to go in a 55-52 win at Texas Tech. Because you really should: http://t.co/y8uC6RT5BW
— ESPN (@espn) September 27, 2015

So much good happened for TCU on an otherwise poorly executed play. The offensive line broke their contain and Boykin fired a ball behind Doctson, the intended target. The pass was high, but it was the only play TCU had to ensure a greater chance of completion. Each one of Doctson’s 18 receptions came into effect on that play. All the focus from the defense was on him, drawing the safeties out of position which allowed Green to scoot along the line freely when the ball was in the air.

Did TCU get lucky and evade the pressures in Lubbock? Maybe so, but you have to admit talent did play a huge factor in the game and is something TCU has the decided advantage with Boykin and Doctson.

Next: 50 Greatest College Football Rivalries of All-Time

More from Saturday Blitz