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Texas Tech football report card: Grading the Red Raiders after Tahj Brooks's 4-TD game
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- Texas Tech football report card: Grading the Red Raiders after Tahj Brooks's 4-TD game
(This story has been updated to correct a statistical error.)
STILLWATER, Okla. — Tahj Brooks ran for 133 yards and scored four touchdowns, the last giving the Texas Tech football team the lead for good Saturday in a 56-48 Red Raiders victory at Oklahoma State .
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Brooks caught a 25-yard touchdown pass late in the second quarter that gave Tech a 21-14 lead. In the second half, the Doak Walker Award semifinalist scored from 2 yards, 40 yards and 1 yard. The 40-yarder came on fourth-and-1 and put Tech ahead 42-35 with 10:42 left. After Oklahoma State answered, Brooks' last touchdown made it 49-42 with 6:12 to go.
Linebacker Jacob Rodriguez recovered a fumble in the end zone with 4:45 left, giving Tech a 56-42 lead. Rodriguez, credited with 13 tackles, sealed the victory by intercepting a pass with seven seconds remaining.
Behren Morton threw for 404 yards, a career high, and four touchdowns. He converted a third-and-11 late with a 12-yard run.
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Tech (7-4, 5-3) closed within one game out of first place in the Big 12 going into its regular-season finale. After Saturday's afternoon games, four Big 12 teams had two conference losses and five teams had three.
Offense: A
Stellar games by Brooks and Morton stood out among a bushel of skill-position contributors. They amassed 543 yards and hung the third-most points on an OSU team at home in the Mike Gundy era.
Defense: D
Allowing five second-half touchdowns won't cut it, but Jacob Rodriguez salvaged the day with two big plays at the end. The unit gave up Ollie Gordon 's season-high 156 yards and didn't force many mistakes from a freshman quarterback.
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Special Teams: B
Kelby Valsin returned an onside kickoff to the OSU 18 at a key moment. Drae McCray and Trevon McAlpine chipped in with a long kickoff return and a blocked PAT, respectively.
Texas Tech's Behren Morton runs the ball against Oklahoma State's Kody Walterscheid and Xavier Ross while Texas Tech's Sterling Porcher looks on during an NCAA football game on Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024, in Stillwater, Okla.
Coaching: B
Red Raiders were fortunate a failed fourth-down try in their own end didn't come back to haunt them, but that's a small quibble. The staff made a lot of the right moves on offense.
Overall: A
Yeah, the Red Raiders could have won more easily, but they did it with a banged-up defense and in a stadium in which they'd won once in the previous 10 trips. They moved to 6-1 in one-score games this season and won their third Big 12 road game, a focal point all year.
Texas Tech's Josh Kelly runs the ball against Oklahoma State's Korie Black during an NCAA football game on Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024, in Stillwater, Okla.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech football report card: Grading the Red Raiders' win at OSU
