Tahj Brooks, Texas Tech Blow Out Mississippi State to Win 2021 Liberty Bowl

The Texas Tech Red Raiders defeated the Mississippi State Bulldogs 34-7 in Tuesday's Liberty Bowl to capture their first winning season since 2015. The Red Raiders also hadn't won a bowl game since the 2013 Holiday Bowl in Kliff Kingsbury's first season as head coach.

Texas Tech entered Tuesday's game with just one win in its last five games.

Before Tuesday, the Red Raiders and Bulldogs hadn't met since 1970. Texas Tech lost that game 20-16. Mississippi State now leads the all-time series against Texas Tech 4-3-1.

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Notable Stats

Donovan Smith, QB, TTU: 15/28 for 252 YDS, 1 TD and 5 CAR for 30 YDS, 1 TD

Will Rogers, QB, MSU: 32/53 for 290 YDS, 1 TD, 1 INT

Tahj Brooks, RB, TTU: 16 CAR for 107 YDS, 1 TD

Makai Polk, WR, MSU: 7 REC for 57 YDS

SaRodorick Thompson, RB, TTU: 14 CAR for 80 YDS, 1 TD

Rara Thomas, WR, MSU: 2 REC for 32 YDS, 1 TD

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Red Raiders' Rushing Offense Gets Job Done

Texas Tech quarterback Donovan Smith was underwhelming in the passing game Tuesday night. However, the Red Raiders' rushing offense got the job done.

Texas Tech opened the game with a rushing touchdown from sophomore running back Tahj Brooks, who was the team's most potent player on the ground against Mississippi State. He finished with 16 carries for 107 yards and one touchdown.

The Red Raiders' performance on the ground was somewhat surprising, as they entered ranked eighth in the Big 12 with 150.7 rushing yards per game. The team's passing offense, meanwhile, entered averaging 257.7 yards per game, which ranked third in the Big 12.

Tuesday's game was Brooks' first game with more than 100 rushing yards since a Sept. 11 win over Stephen F. Austin State University. It was also his most productive game since then.

Brooks entered with 461 yards and six touchdowns on the ground, a significant increase from the 255 rushing yards and four rushing scores he had as a freshman in 2020.

In addition to Brooks, junior running back SaRodorick Thompson had his most productive game since an Oct. 16 win over Kansas. He finished with 14 carries for 80 yards and one touchdown, in addition to Smith's five carries for 30 yards and one score.

Thompson entered with 448 rushing scores and nine rushing touchdowns in 10 games.

Texas Tech's rushing performance was even more impressive when looking at Mississippi State's defensive stats. The Bulldogs defense entered having allowed 101.2 rushing yards per game, the third-least in the SEC and 10th-least in college football.

To be fair, the Mississippi State defense was without several key defensive players on Tuesday, including safety Jalen Green, defensive linemen Randy Charlton and Jaden Crumedy, and cornerback Martin Emerson, who declared for the NFL draft. The defense was also without linebacker Aaron Brule, who transferred to Michigan State.

Regardless, Tuesday's performance from the Red Raiders' rushing offense was impressive, and Texas Tech fans can look forward to another season of Brooks and Thompson in the backfield in 2022.

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Will Rogers Underwhelming for Bulldogs

Tuesday's game was Rogers' worst of the season. There's no other way to put it.

The sophomore quarterback entered having completed 75.1 percent of his passes for 4,449 yards (370.8 yards per game) and 35 touchdowns to eight interceptions. His passing yardage was tied for second in college football with UVA's Brennan Armstrong, while his completion percentage ranked first.

Rogers completed just 32 of 53 passes (60.3 percent) for 290 yards, one touchdown and one interception against the Red Raiders. He hadn't been held to under 300 passing yards since a Sept. 11 win over NC State.

However, Mississippi State's rushing offense didn't do Rogers any favors, either. Sophomore running backs Dillon Johnson and Jo'quavious Marks finished with just 14 carries for 81 yards.

The Bulldogs offense actually entered having averaged 385.7 passing yards per game, the most in the SEC, which further highlights Rogers' struggles in the pocket.

Mississippi State could have thrust itself back into Tuesday's game early in the fourth quarter, but Rogers threw a costly interception, and the Red Raiders charged back down the field to put things out of reach for the Bulldogs.

Rogers hadn't thrown an interception since a Nov. 6 loss to Arkansas. The Bulldogs went 5-2 in games he didn't throw a pick this season.

Despite his performance Tuesday, Bulldogs fans have a lot to look forward to from Rogers in the future. He set Mississippi State's single-season passing records for yards and touchdowns this season, which were previously held by Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott. He also became the first-ever Bulldog to throw for more than 4,000 yards in a season.

If there's one thing to take away from Tuesday's Liberty Bowl, it's that Rogers is still learning, but he has an incredibly bright future ahead among college football's best.