West Virginia Football: 3 takeaways from Mountaineers’ win over Texas Tech
By Phil Poling
3. Texas Tech was overrated
After each team’s first offensive drive, it was evident the Red Raiders were over-hyped and in over their heads. After Grier and the ‘Eers marched right down the field and punched it in on the Red Raiders, freshman quarterback Alan Bowman threw an interception to sophomore-stud and breakout player Kenny Robinson.
Tech looked like a junior varsity team versus the ‘Eers early on, scoring only 10 points and punting the ball three times in the first half. They started the second half with back-to-back punts, as well, before makin things interesting. The Mountaineers aided the Red Raiders big time in their comeback, though, committing a dozen penalties for over 100 yards. Let’s look at the bigger picture with the Red Raiders, though.
They’re only touted so highly because they beat a ranked Oklahoma State team last week — who doesn’t actually appear to be that great. This is why preseason rankings are absolutely worthless, but I digress. Their defense, although they held the ‘Eers to a few punts, hasn’t changed that much from a year ago; same old song-and-dance on that side of the ball in Lubbock. West Virginia was in neutral the entire second half — they wanted to get out of there with a win.
Texas Tech’s quarterback situation isn’t as defined as people thought just a week ago, either. Bowman, who got the start, completed 9-of-20 passes for 123 yards and a score, but missed a handful of key throws that gave the ball back to West Virginia when their offense was humming; he also threw an interception.
Bowman went down with an injury and backup Jett Duffey entered the game and had a bit more success. Duffey got the Red Raiders back in it, going 16-of-27 for 172 yards and a touchdown, and posed a greater threat in the running game forcing West Virginia to adjust. It still wasn’t enough to overcome what the Mountaineers were bringing to the table, but at least Texas Tech showed up in the second half.