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Does Texas Tech football get an A after beating Cincinnati?

Does Texas Tech football get an A after beating Cincinnati?

Vaseline 1 month ago

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Coy Eakin caught two touchdown passes from Behren Morton and Tahj Brooks had two touchdowns in another 100-yard rushing performance as the Texas Tech football team defeated Cincinnati 44-41 on Saturday night in Big 12 action at Jones AT&T Stadium.

Cincinnati kicker Nathan Hawks missed a 51-yard field goal as time expired.

Tech (4-1, 2-0 in the Big 12) overcame an early 11-point deficit. The Red Raiders got two field goals from Gino Garcia and one from Reese Burkhardt. Garcia’s last made it 44-34 with 7:50 to go.

Brooks’ 1-yard run tied the game 24-24 late in the second quarter, and his 2-yard run put Tech ahead early in the third. He finished with 32 carries for 172 yards, moving into the top 100 for the 12th time in his past 15 games.

Safety AJ McCarty gave Tech breathing room with a 51-yard interception-return touchdown with 12:40 left in the fourth quarter. Linebacker Ben Roberts hit Brendan Sorsby, who threw a wobbler behind the intended receiver.

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It was McCarty’s second pick at Jones AT&T Stadium. He did it two years ago for Baylor against Tech.

Sorsby threw for 426 yards and four touchdowns for Cincinnati (3-2, 1-1). The last two, for 71 yards and 3 yards to Manny Covey, closed the gap to 41-34 and 44-41 with 3:24 remaining.

After McCarty’s touchdown made it 41-27, Cincinnati answered when Covey took a screen pass for a touchdown. It was the third week in a row that Techs allowed a short pass of more than 65 yards.

Morton completed 19 of 29 passes for 251 yards, and Josh Kelly caught eight for 111. Cincinnati’s Xzavier Henderson caught seven passes for 127 yards, and Covey caught six for 100.

Violation: B

Eakin and Brooks fueled the unit with two touchdowns each. Kelly remains a security blanket for Morton.

Defense: D

Sudden change situations and touchdowns on a large scale remain a problem. De’Braylon Carroll, Roberts and Jacob Rodriguez were bright spots.

Special teams: C

Cincinnati converted Kelly’s fumbled kick into a field goal. Drae McCray’s return on the opening kickoff set up a good offensive position for the first scoring drive, and Garcia and Burkhardt kept Tech perfect in field goal percentage this season.

Coaching: B

The Red Raiders had a depleted secondary and an 11-point deficit early in the game. Give the staff credit for keeping a team balanced.

General: B

Texas Tech’s offense continues to improve and the defense dodges a bullet against a team with some quality weapons. Now the Red Raiders head to Arizona next week with some momentum.