Texas Tech vs. Oklahoma State: Game Grades, Analysis for Red Raiders and Cowboys
In a game that featured a ton of passing, a ton of penalties and not a ton of defensive prowess, the Oklahoma State Cowboys bounced back from a relatively slow start to blow past the Texas Tech Red Raiders, 45-35, en route to a 1-0 start in the Big 12 conference.
The Red Raiders piled up nearly 160 yards of penalties, taking big plays and touchdowns away when they were most needed, and Oklahoma State took advantage, eventually securing the victory. Oklahoma State has now won its last 25 home contests against unranked opponents.
Here is the box score via NCAA.com.
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| Pass Offense | B- | B- |
| Run Offense | C+ | C+ |
| Pass Defense | B- | C |
| Run Defense | A- | B |
| Special Teams | C- | D+ |
| Coaching | B | B |
Texas Tech Passing Offense
At first glance, you'll see Texas Tech with nearly 400 passing yards and five completions for touchdowns and think "A-plus." But scratch just below the surface, and you'll notice that as a team, Texas Tech completed 37 passes on 60 attempts, and those five touchdowns are tempered by three interceptions.
While Davis Webb played well before leaving the game with a separated non-throwing shoulder, Texas Tech was hounded all night by dropped passes. Add in a comparatively low completion percentage and we'd be hard-pressed to give the Red Raiders' passing offense anything better than a B-minus for Thursday night's fitful effort.
Texas Tech Rushing Offense
The Red Raiders put up only 118 yards on the ground against Oklahoma State, with DeAndre Washington leading the way with 85 yards.
As a team, Texas Tech averaged just 3.9 yards per carry and failed to reach the end zone. The fact that we're handing out a C-plus for a pretty poor showing should remind Texas Tech fans that Oklahoma State won't be the toughest run defense the Red Raiders will face in 2014.
Texas Tech Pass Defense
It's hard to like what the Texas Tech pass defense did against Oklahoma State, but then again, not many teams fare well against the Cowboys passing attack.
Still, the Red Raiders gave up 370 yards and four touchdowns on just 31 attempts. The only reason we're not flunking the entire secondary is the fact that J.J. Gaines and Jah'Shawn Johnson each came up with an interception on the night.
Since we're handing out some pretty generous grades to TTU, we'll keep that going with the pass defense by awarding some extra credit for the two picks. A grade of C is still all we can manage.
Texas Tech Run Defense
Here, Texas Tech actually exceeded expectations. After giving up literally a quarter mile (0.248, to be exact) of rushing yards against Arkansas in their last game, the Red Raiders held Oklahoma State to just 158 yards on the ground.
In the first half, OSU was held to 72 yards on 18 carries before giving up a couple of scores on the ground. We dropped the first-half A-minus to a final grade of a straight B, but head coach Kliff Kingsbury and new sole defensive coordinator Mike Smith should be pleased with the improvement.
Texas Tech Special Teams
If you want to know where most of Texas Tech's painful penalties came from, just watch a tape of the special teams plays from Thursday night.
Time after time, the Red Raiders saw impressive returns wiped out due to holding, a block in the back or some other silly penalty. One even managed to wipe a 99-yard kickoff return by Jakeem Grant off the scoreboard.
These plays are also where so much of that "phantom penalty yardage" comes into play. A holding call on the 99-yard kick return only counts as 10 yards' worth of penalties, although its true impact is about 85 yards and six points.
Add in a few miscues on punts, and the special teams is lucky to get any credit at all. A D-plus is the result, and we'll need this letter to be signed by a parent.
Texas Tech Coaching
Kliff Kingsbury didn't have any great trouble in the first half coaching Mike Gundy down to the wire. After halftime, there weren't too many great adjustments made, but we didn't see a need for many, either.
In the end, Kingsbury and his staff just didn't have the horses to keep up with the Cowboys. Because of the plethora of penalties, however, we can't give the staff anything better than a grade of B for the evening.
Penalties reflect poorly on the coaches—something the Texas Tech staff will surely make clear to the players come their next practice.
| Pass Offense | B | B+ |
| Run Offense | B | B+ |
| Pass Defense | B | B |
| Run Defense | B+ | B+ |
| Special Teams | C+ | B- |
| Coaching | Inc. | B |
Oklahoma State Passing Offense
Like Texas Tech, you look at the raw numbers and think "A-plus." But also like Texas Tech, there's more to look at than gaudy passing totals.
Still, Daxx Garman nearly out-passed Davis Webb (shy by just four yards) and did so on 23 fewer pass attempts. We will mark down for the two picks thrown by Garman, but we'll award him and his receivers a higher grade than we did his counterparts from Texas Tech. He gets a B-plus.
Oklahoma State Rushing Offense
Both halves were fairly equal in output, both resulting in around 75 yards and a touchdown.
Desmond Roland carried the ball 23 times for 86 yards to lead the way for the Cowboys. Oklahoma State didn't rely too much on the run game mainly because it didn't need to, so it's hard to mark down for that. It's similarly hard to give a sterling grade for a relatively easy evening, so we'll settle on a B-plus.
Oklahoma State Pass Defense
The pass defense for Oklahoma State did its job, holding the Red Raiders out of the end zone when needed and coming up with some big stops in the second half.
The Red Raiders quarterbacks were thrice intercepted on the evening, and that's certainly worthy of some recognition—and extra credit. Kevin Peterson, Seth Jacobs and Ramon Richards each got in on the action, and the Cowboys did something the Texas Tech interceptors didn't do: add a little return yardage (although it was just seven combined yards).
We think a B sounds like a nice, solid final grade.
Oklahoma State Run Defense
The Cowboys put up nothing short of a B-plus performance on run defense against Texas Tech. Oklahoma State held Texas Tech to less than four yards per carry and zero ground points on the evening.
Oklahoma State Special Teams
This is actually a difficult category in which to grade the Cowboys. On one hand, statistically the Cowboys did a fine job of holding Texas Tech in check. On the other hand, if you watched the game, you'll note that the Red Raiders did an excellent job of shooting themselves in the foot.
Can we really reward the Cowboys for Texas Tech's error-prone performance?
The Cowboys, for their part, had a pretty mediocre showing on special teams, averaging 21 yards on kickoff returns but just 0.7 yard on three punt returns.
We will, however, note that Ben Grogan connected on his only field-goal attempt of the night (42 yards) and was a perfect 6-of-6 on extra points.
Still, we can't get all of those electric returns by the Red Raiders out of our minds. A B-minus is about as good as we can do here.
Oklahoma State Coaching
Despite not seeing enough in the first half to give Mike Gundy and his staff much of a grade, when the final whistle blew, we didn't have any major complaints. Play-calling was about as expected, leaning heavily on the pass. And since it was working most of the evening, why change things?
The Cowboys did make some nice adjustments on defense in the second half...or was it that the Red Raiders just couldn't keep up with a deeper, more talented Cowboys squad?
Either way, we're happy with a B from Gundy and Co., and Oklahoma State fans should be, too.
Unless otherwise noted, quotes or references to quotes were obtained firsthand by the writer.
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