Texas Tech defeats Houston Baptist 35-33 in the 2020 season opener.
By Branson Nash
Texas Tech, behind a 430-yard, two touchdown game from Alan Bowman, survived FCS foe Houston Baptist, 35-33, Saturday night at the Jones.
It did not come easy for the Red Raiders, Houston Baptist’s quarterback Bailey Zappe overthrew his receiver on a 2-point attempt to tie the game late, and Tech would hold on.
Houston Baptist terrorized the Tech defense, specifically through the air. 567 out of the Huskies’ 600 yards came via the arm of Zappe.
Starting Fast
It did not take the Red Raiders long to get on the board, needing just 98 seconds to draw first blood, courtesy of a 7-yard pass from Bowman to Ezukanma, who also caught a 37 yard, over-the-shoulder ball the play before. During that first drive, Texas Tech ran a three-back set, which head coach Matt Wells deemed the “Texas T formation” on the first play of the game in honor of the late Tommy McVay who passed away over the offseason.
Running Back Duo
A big question coming into the game for the Red Raiders was the depth of the running backs on the team, specifically who would help out starter SaRodorick Thompson. With Lubbock Monterey native Xavier White, who made the offseason move from wideout to tailback, being ruled out for the game, redshirt freshman Tahj Brooks was the next man up.
Brooks got three touches, two runs and a catch, on Tech’s second touchdown drive, which was capped off by a 5-yard touchdown run by Thompson.
The Manor, Texas native found his way into the end zone for the first time of his career when he punched the ball in from the one to put the Red Raiders up 21-3 at the 6:22 mark of the second quarter. Thompson and Brooks combined for 71 rushing yards and two touchdowns in the first half.
Thompson totaled 118 yards and two touchdowns on the ground, and Brooks added 25 yards and a score.
Huskies Take to the Air
It was evident early on that the Huskies’ plan of attack would be through the air, looking to exploit the Red Raiders’ secondary that featured Alex Hogan, Thomas Leggett, Zech McPhearson, and Eric Monroe to start the game. In their first drive, HBU used nine plays to set up a 40-yard field goal that cut the lead to 7-3. Seven of those plays were passes.
The Huskies offense, led by former Tech graduate assistant and Wes Kittley’s son, Zach Kittley, followed the air raid religiously in the first half. 242 of HBU’s 258 first half yards came via the air.
HBU made it evident they were not going to go away easily. Four plays after Brooks’ one run to extend the lead to 18, D.J. Dormeus connected on a 65-yard pass from Husky quarterback Bailey Zappe after Tech defensive back Dadrion Taylor-Demerson bit on a pump fake that allowed Dormeus to streak open downfield and closed the gap to 21-10.
Big Time Stops
The Red Raider defense came up with three momentum-changing stops during the course of the first half. The first came when Tech forced a three and out at midfield following a Bowman interception that kept that lead at 7-3.
The second came at their own goal line when the Huskies attempted to trick the Red Raiders with a wide receiver pass from Jerreth Sterns that was ultimately picked off by Zech McPhearson at the one.
Just as it seemed HBU would have the momentum heading into the locker room, senior safety Thomas Leggett was able to get a huge stop on the Huskies’ 4th and goal try from Tech’s one, upending Sterns’ rushing attempt. Tech would ride out the rest of the 27 seconds left on the clock in the first half to take a 21-10 lead to halftime.
The Huskies had two possessions in the first half where they were able to get inside the Red Raider’s ten, but were unable to score any points while potentially leaving 14 out on the field.
Back and Forth 2nd Half
Even after being denied right before the end of the first half, the Huskies came out with all the momentum in the 3rd. A 44-yard field goal by Gino Garcia and another 65-yard touchdown, this time from Zappe to Josh Sterns, brother of Jarreth, cut the lead to just one at 21-20 as the few Houston Baptist fans echoed throughout the 11,157 fans at the Jones.
Alan Bowman would not let the lead slip away from the Red Raiders in the third. In the ensuing drive, Bowman used underneath passes, accumulating 64 passing yards on what would become a 75-yard touchdown drive for Tech. Thompson dove into the end zone for his second score of the day, to push the lead back to eight with the Red Raiders up 28-20.
The Red Raiders would back this up with a stop in their own territory, defensively, and immediately turned it around to another scoring drive. This time it was KeSean Carter finding paydirt as he broke three tackles on the way to an 18-yard touchdown.
However, just like in the first half, the Huskies would not allow the Red Raiders to keep their cushion. In the first play after the Carter score, Zappe found Josh Sterns again, this time from 75 yards out, as HBU quickly cut the lead back down to eight at 35-27.
Josh Sterns led all receivers with 209 yards. Tech was led in the receiving category by junior KeSean Carter, who had 86 and a touchdown.
Wells’ Decision to Go For It
With 5:25 left in the game, the Red Raiders faced a decision on 4th and inches from the HBU 4. Tech elected to go for it, instead of giving Trey Wolfe a chance to extend the lead to 11, and Bowman’s sneak attempt was stopped short.
“You have a 75% chance to convert,” Wells said of the decision, “if not, the other team has to go 95 yards, which they did.”
HBU used this momentum to go downfield in 2 minutes and 2 seconds to score a 6-yard touchdown from Zappe to Jerreth Sterns to cut the lead to two. However, in an attempt to tie the game, Zappe missed his target and Tech would get the ball back with 3:23 left and a 35-33 lead.
The Huskies offense would not get another chance. Facing third and 5, with just over two minutes left, Bowman found Vasher underneath for a 10-yard connection, allowing Tech to burn out the clock and survive Houston Baptist, avoiding their second-ever loss to an FCS school.
Attendance
Due to COVID-19 regulations, programs across the nation have been forced to ban or limit fans in the stands this season. Texas Tech elected to go with a 25% capacity for all home games for the 2020 campaign. Because of this, only 11,157 people were reported to be in attendance for the opener, or 11,464 if the 307 cut-out figures at the 50-yard line were accounted for.
What the Win Means
Tech starts the season off at 1-0 and improves to 24-1 all time versus FCS foes. The Red Raiders have now won 17 of their last 18 season openers. The game marks the first time since 2014 the Red Raiders won a season opener by one possession.
What’s Next
Houston Baptist will finish their three-game season at Louisiana Tech on September 26th. The Red Raiders will also get a bye week and will host the Texas Longhorns at 2:30pm on the 26th.
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