Red Raiders Stay Undefeated With Convincing Win

For two of the three home games to start the 2025 season, Texas Tech fans have had to weather the storms presented by Mother Nature. But today’s two-hour delay did nothing to slow down Joey McGuire’s squad. Texas Tech passed its non-conference slate with flying colors. In their final test against the best competition they have played to date, the home team passed emphatically. The Red Raiders stay undefeated with a 45-14 victory over the overmatched Beavers.

Defensive Pressure Busts Dam

Oregon State head football coach Trent Bray saw some flashes from his quarterback Maalik Murphy. But the unrelenting pressure from this Texas Tech defense was too much. Many of Murphy’s completions, even on a three-step drop, came with a Red Raider defender in his face. Coming into this game, the Red Raiders knew they could create turnovers against an Oregon State team that is one of the worst in the country at protecting the ball. Ultimately, the forced Murphy into two interceptions that killed some of the Beavers’ best scoring opportunities. In addition to forcing the interceptions, the Texas Tech defense made any offensive output hard to come by. Oregon State only mustered 162 yards of total offense through three quarters. Shiel Wood’s defense has yet to yield a single point in the first half of a game. This defense has lived up to its billing early in the season.

Offense Continues To Click

When the offense scores over 60 points for the first two weeks, only registering 45 points might seem like a let-down. However, this offense continues to look sharper by the week. Quarterback Behren Morton had an excellent game. He finished 23-for-35 for 393 yards and four touchdowns. Morton’s interception in the first half was a ball forced into the endzone. It was the type of decision Morton needs to avoid as conference play gets ramped up. But that was the only mistake he had made all game. The four touchdown passes were caught by four different receivers. Coy Eakin led all Red Raider receivers with six receptions for 139 yards and one touchdown.

The rushing attack was very pedestrian today. While Cameron Dickey led the team with 17 carries for 77 yards and one touchdown, the team did not dominate on the ground. In total, the team had four different plays with a rushing attempt. The team only averaged 2.8 yards per carry, finishing with just 110 yards in total. But it’s hard to let that be a sticking point for an offense that finished with 505 yards of offense.

Red Raiders Stay Undefeated, What’s Next?

This team needs to clean up the penalties. Committing nine penalties for 74 yards against Utah will give too many advantageous spots for a good team. But the Red Raiders stay on track with another decisive win. Texas Tech hasn’t started a season 3-0 since 2021. The non-conference schedule coming into this year was never viewed as very threatening. Even so, this team never let up and won their first three games by a combined score of 174-35.

This game saw the starters play the most football in a single game so far. Even with the score at 38-0 heading into the fourth quarter, the starters remained in the game. It served as good game conditioning with a likely tight game next week, where the starters will finally play wire-to-wire. Texas Tech finally leaves Lubbock for the first time all season next week. It will be a top 20 showdown with a physical Utah squad. This is the defining game to tell the rest of the college football world this Red Raider team is “for real.” It will force more national eyes to watch the Red Raiders and get their first look at this new-look team. Will Texas Tech be up for the challenge?