5 takeaways from Texas Tech football's win over Arizona State to open Big 12 play

Story by

Story by
5 takeaways from Texas Tech football's win over Arizona State to open Big 12 play

Nathan Giese, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal · Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

Sat, Sep 21, 2024 ·

2 min read

Penalties plague Texas Tech football in first half

For the majority of the first half, the Red Raiders dominated both sides of the ball. But penalties were a major concern and created some issues that, luckily for them, weren't detrimental.

Tech was penalized eight times in the first half for a total of 79 yards. Thirty-five of those yards came in one drive as the secondary was flagged on three separate occasions. The defense came through with a 4th-down stop in the red zone.

Macho Stevenson #12 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders turns around as multiple flags are thrown during the first half of the game against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Jones AT&T Stadium on September 21, 2024 in Lubbock, Texas.

Texas Tech football a defensive team?

Cliché as it is, the Red Raiders bent but didn't break through the majority of Saturday's game. Despite the penalties, the defense came up with a number of key stops in the game, starting with C.J. Baskerville's interception on ASU's opening drive of the game and getting two key stops in 4th-and-short situations, one early in each half.

Jalin Conyers ' revenge

Former Arizona State Sun Devil Jalin Conyers said he was looking forward to playing his old team. While he didn't have his best day as a Red Raider, he did find the end zone on a 3-yard keeper out of the wildcat formation to start the second half on a positive note for Tech.

Red Raiders hold Cam Skattebo in check

The game featured two of the top running backs in the country, though Arizona State's Skattebo was more useful in the passing game than on the ground. Skattebo had a 66-yard catch and run that set up a 3-yard TD run but was otherwise limited. In his first 16 carries of the game, he amassed just 54 yards for an average of 3.4 per carry.

Special teams comes through

While teams are still not keen on kicking to Drae McCray, Texas Tech's special teams played a big part in Saturday's win.

McCray downed a Jack Burgess punt at the ASU 1 and E'Maurion Banks blocked a point-after attempt that kept Tech ahead by eight heading to the fourth. Tech was able to pad the lead in the final frame and came out on top.