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Defense rules in Texas Tech football's Independence Bowl conquest of Cal
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- Defense rules in Texas Tech football's Independence Bowl conquest of Cal
SHREVEPORT, La. — Texas Tech football running back Tahj Brooks and his California counterpart Jaydn Ott , two of the FBS's top seven rushers, were billed as the reason to tune in to an Independence Bowl matchup of 6-6 teams.
The Red Raiders made sure one of the two gave nowhere near his usual performance.
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A swarming Tech defense limited Ott to 42 yards, his second-lowest rushing output of the season, showing the way for the Red Raiders in a 34-14 victory on Saturday's opening night of bowl season. The Red Raiders let Ott loose for a 26-yard run and a 1-yard touchdown in the first quarter and then shut him down the rest of the night, the key to the program's third consecutive bowl victory.
Joey McGuire called it "probably the best, most complete game we've played all year."
"He had a couple of runs to our boundary that we didn't set the edge," the Tech coach said. "But other than that, I thought defensively stopping the run, man, was elite tonight against the best back in the Pac-12 and one of the best backs in the country."
Texas Tech linebacker Jacob Rodriguez (10) raises his trophy as the outstanding defensive player in the Independence Bowl on Saturday night in Shreveport, Louisiana. Tech beat California 34-14, and Rodriguez was credited with six tackles, an interception, a caused fumble and a pass breakup.
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Ott came in with 1,260 yards rushing, at least 150 in five games and he'd returned a kickoff for a touchdown in Cal's regular-season finale, a 33-7 conquest of UCLA .
Bottling up Ott was only part of the story. Among the Red Raiders' 13 tackles for loss were six sacks. Defensive end Amier Washington , a true freshman from Little Cypress-Mauriceville, had four of the tackles behind the line and three of the sacks.
"Really excited about Amier," McGuire said. "We had talked about it. We kind of saw it coming in bowl prep, how hard he was playing. I credit a lot to our strength staff. They do a great job with our young guys."
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Washington had played in only one other game this season and probably would not have played in the bowl under normal circumstances. He was fourth on the depth chart at field defensive end behind Myles Cole, who opted out; Dylan Spencer, who missed the game with a shoulder injury; and Charles Esters , who got the start.
"I'm really proud of Amier," McGuire said. "He was one of those guys that took advantage of the opportunity."
Tech inside linebacker Jacob Rodriguez, with six tackles, an interception, a pass breakup and a forced fumble, was named the game's outstanding defensive player.
Independence Bowl: Texas Tech defensive linemen Amier Washington (96) forces California quarterback Fernando Mendoza (15) to fumble.
Quarterback Behren Morton was the outstanding offensive player. Morton threw for 256 yards and three touchdowns on 27-for-43 passing. The touchdowns covered 27 yards to Coy Eakin , 15 yards to Mason Tharp and 14 yards to Loic Fouonji, the latter putting Tech ahead for good at 21-14.
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Tech running back Tahj Brooks carried 21 times for 99 yards and a touchdown that made it 31-14. He reached 95 yards rushing in each of the last 10 games.
Cal wobbled the Red Raiders early. After Tech's Drae McCray fumbled the opening kickoff, Golden Bears quarterback Fernando Mendoza threw a 25-yard touchdown pass on the first play to wide receiver Monroe Young, a brother of Tech tight end/linebacker Matthew Young.
On Cal's next series, the Golden Bears had five plays of more than 10 yards and reached the Tech 5-yard line. But linebacker Ben Roberts threw Ott for a loss on fourth-and-2, the first of two instances Tech stopped Ott behind the line on a fourth down in Tech territory.
The two teams then traded touchdowns, Eakin outmuscling a cornerback on a 50-50 ball and Ott going in from the 1 for a 14-7 lead.
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Tech outscored Cal 27-0 from then on and dominated the Golden Bears in the trenches.
"You have to give Texas Tech credit," Cal coach Justin Wilcox said. "They outplayed us. They ran the ball better. They threw it better. They stopped the run better. They defended the pass. Their kicking game was much better. They punted better."
Joseph Adedire had two tackles for loss, including a sack, and Roberts, Dooda Banks and Esters each were credited with 1 1/2 tackles for loss.
Mendoza completed his first seven passes and 14 of his first 18. Three of his next 14 throws, though, were intercepted, by linebackers Tyrique Matthews and Rodriguez and safety Julien (C.J.) Baskerville. All three were in the second half, blunting the Bears' comeback attempts.
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"I thought we did what we were supposed to do, the things that we coach that hadn't shown up sometimes this year," McGuire said. "We hit the quarterback and we caused turnovers, and when you do that, you've got a great chance to win."
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Defense rules for Texas Tech football in Independence Bowl win vs. Cal
