SALT LAKE CITY — No. 17 Texas Tech muscled its way through four quarters of defensive-driven football Saturday to top No. 16 Utah 34-10 to open Big 12 play.
A 73-yard catch and run from Texas Tech running back J’Koby Williams on the Red Raiders’ first drive was the extent of offensive fireworks from either side until the final period. Utah was held to a field goal in the first half, similarly to its win over Wyoming a week prior, but Texas Tech’s defense didn’t allow more than a touchdown through the final two periods.
The Utes forced the contest into a three-point game by the 10:22 mark in the fourth quarter after a 44-yard pass snowballed into a five-yard touchdown run by Wayshawn Parker. However, Texas Tech backup quarterback Will Hammond tossed a pair of touchdowns and rushed for 61 yards to empty Rice-Eccles Stadium.
Saturday started with a pair of quarterbacks considered in Las Vegas’ Heisman odds, but both struggled to build on their resumes. Texas Tech quarterback Behren Morton had two interceptions and a fumble on 19 attempts before leaving the game with an injury in the third quarter. Utah quarterback Devon Dampier threw an interception and was held below the 200-yard mark despite completing 25 passes.
For Texas Tech, the win will boost Big 12 Championship odds and AP Poll rankings, but the continuous injuries to Morton threaten its College Football Playoff odds.
Behren Morton’s health is a problem
Outliers exist in everything, but statistically, teams that can’t keep a healthy starting quarterback don’t win national championships. Morton was hit a handful of times as a passer and a runner, but the third-quarter collision marked the second time in four games he had to be removed for the remainder of the game.
Morton was sidelined in Week 1 after his leg was awkwardly landed on by a UAPB player. In his place, Hammond has had spurts of success, including a 169-yard performance Saturday.
However, if Morton comes back next week and goes down again, the risk of a season-ending tag falling next to his name only grows more likely.
Devon Dampier contained in the run game
Texas Tech has been plagued by dual-threat quarterbacks across McGuire’s tenure, but Saturday, the Red Raiders minimized Dampier’s impact as a runner.
He finished as Utah’s second-leading rusher with 27 yards, but Texas Tech’s front four didn’t allow more than a 7-yard rush by him. Dampier had not been held to a below five-yard-per-rush average since Oct. 12, 2024.
Texas Tech entered as the No. 2 rush defense in the country, and Utah’s overall rushing attack was kept to 101 yards.
Both teams fail to play complementary football
In the first half alone, Texas Tech and Utah combined for six turnovers. Texas Tech threw a pair of interceptions. Utah fumbled twice, was picked off once and was stopped on downs. Three points came out of that.
There was a stretch of first-quarter plays in which Utah fumbled the ball, Texas Tech was picked off and Utah fumbled again.
Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire spent a plethora of his time in news conferences last season preaching complementary football. Saturday, not only did the offense fail to capitalize, but Texas Tech went three quarters before it could string five or more positive plays together. The second-quarter field goal was also the second-longest recorded in Texas Tech history, which was forced from 58 yards because of an earlier holding call that negated a 40-yard pass.
False starts pair with a bad day for Howard Sampson
Texas Tech elected to play zero road games before conference play started. Despite pumping crowd noise in the indoor facilities all week, the Red Raider offensive line had eight false starts.
Every single starting offensive lineman committed at least one false start throughout the game. On drives with a false start,
UNC transfer Howard Sampson was responsible for just one, but he was penalized for holding in the second quarter on a 40-plus-yard reception. He also allowed a blindside hit on Morton in the first quarter, which resulted in a 16-yard fumble.
Sampson was one of four key offensive line transfers over the offseason to protect Morton.
NFL scouts see the trench battle won by Utah
Nineteen NFL scouts were in attendance Saturday to watch Utah offensive tackles Spencer Fano and Caleb Lomu meet Texas Tech outside linebackers David Bailey and Romello Height.
Fano and Bailey have been mocked in the first round by multiple NFL pundits, while Lomu and Height are fringe names being talked about as mid-round selections.
Neither Bailey nor Height recorded a sack until the waning minutes. Bailey followed a pressure by defensive tackle A.J. Holmes for his lone sack of the day.
Conversely, Fano and Lomu didn’t record a penalty, and Dampier was hit only one other time after the ball was thrown.
Find more Texas Tech coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
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