Texas Tech 49, West Virginia 14
LUBBOCK, Texas -- A Mountaineer could certainly feel disoriented in the wide open spaces of West Texas.
The fifth-ranked West Virginia Mountaineers appeared lost as Texas Tech laid West Virginia as flat as the landscape, pummeling the Mountaineers 49-14 on Saturday at Jones AT&T Stadium.
Texas Tech quarterback Seth Doege passed for 499 yards and six touchdowns, leading the Red Raiders to a shocking win. Doege threw for 336 yards and four touchdowns in the first half as Texas Tech established a 35-7 lead by intermission and never looked back.
Meanwhile, West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith, the frontrunner for the Heisman Trophy through the first five games of the season, never seemed to be in rhythm. Smith completed 19 of 34 passes in the first half but couldn't help his Mountaineers keep pace with Doege and the Red Raiders. For the game, Smith went 29 of 55 for 275 yards, 124 below his season average.
Doege led Texas Tech on touchdown drives of 75 and 69 yards on its first two possessions of the game, capping them with scoring passes to Jace Amaro that covered 39 yards and a 19-yard strike to Eric Ward.
West Viriginia answered early when Smith threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Stedman Bailey to cut the Red Raiders' lead to 14-7 with 4:21 left in the first quarter.
But Texas Tech shut out the Mountaineers in the second quarter while scoring on three of its four possessions in the period, including the final one when the Red Raiders took the ball with 56 seconds left.
The lightning-quick score at the end of the second quarter came on the ground as Red Raider running back SaDale Foster got around end and galloped 53 yards for a touchdown.
When Texas Tech's offense finally slowed down a bit in the third quarter -- the Red Raiders lost a fumble inside the Mountaineers' 20 and missed a 42-yard field goal attempt -- the defense continued to turn away the previously prolific West Virginia offense.
The Red Raiders were ranked No. 2 in the nation in total defense entering the game despite giving up 380 yards against Oklahoma a week ago. West Virginia, which scored 118 points in Big 12 wins against Baylor and Texas in its previous two games, represented the stiffest test for the Texas Tech defense to date.
But the Red Raiders held West Virginia to 408 yards, 162 below the Mountaineers' season average. More importantly, Texas Tech kept a West Virginia team averaging 52 points per game to just 14.
NOTES: West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen, who coached under Mike Leach at Texas Tech from 2000-2007, lost for the first time as a head coach in his return to Lubbock ... The only previous meeting between Texas Tech and West Virginia came in the 1938 Sun Bowl, which the Mountaineers won 7-6. The Red Raiders and Mountaineers eclipsed that scoring total six minutes into the game when Texas Tech quarterback Seth Doege threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Eric Ward, giving the Red Raiders a 14-0 lead.
