Bears' 4th-down futility made Texas Tech football task much easier | Williams

WACO — The previous two Baylor-Texas Tech football games played at McLane Stadium both were decided on the final play.

A JaMycal Hasty touchdown run gave Baylor a 33-30 double overtime victory four years ago, and a narrowly missed field goal by Texas Tech's Jonathan Garibay allowed the Bears to dodge overtime and win 27-24 two years ago.

On Saturday night, Texas Tech didn't let the game come anywhere near being settled in the fourth quarter, much less the final play. That was largely due to how the Red Raiders' defense rose up at key moments throughout the game. In the first three quarters, Tech stopped Baylor on fourth down four times.

"That put us in some good situations on offense," Tech coach Joey McGuire said.

Couple the timely stops with a productive attack and it made for an unexpectedly easy night on the banks of the Brazos.

"We call that the money down, both third and fourth down," McGuire said. "Can't say enough about the game plan (defensive coordinator) Tim (DeRuyter) had. ... Four of 15 on third down, and one of six on third down. That's where the game was won right there."

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Dadrion Taylor-Demerson returned to the lineup after missing nearly the last three quarters of Tech's 49-28 victory the week before against Houston. The Red Raiders' senior free safety played a key role in two of the defensive stops, not in coverage but effecting plays by rushing off the edge.

"I wanted a sack so bad," he said. "I really wanted a sack so bad, but I'm just doing my job."

Midway through the first quarter with Baylor fourth-and-1 at the Tech 40-yard line, Taylor-Demerson got quick pressure off the edge, hurrying quarterback Blake Shapen into an incomplete pass. In the third quarter, with Baylor at the Tech 15, Taylor-Demerson rushed off the edge again on third-and-6 and knocked down a Shapen pass.

Cornerback Rayshad Williams's pass breakup on the next play was good for the turnover on downs.

"We've been calling that play all week,' Taylor-Demerson said of his blitzing. "I've just been going home, watching practice and going, 'During this play, I've got to be elite.' You know what I'm saying? They had some keys where I knew what was going on during those plays."

Late in the second quarter, inside linebacker Ben Roberts threw running back Dominic Richardson for a 3-yard loss on fourth-and-1 from the Baylor 42. That helped Tech keep a grip on a 14-3 lead.

And on Baylor's first series of the second half, the middle of the Tech defensive line stonewalled a Shapen sneak on fourth-and-1 from the Tech 35. More breathing room for the Red Raiders, who were up 17-3 at the time.

"We played really well up front on the defensive side of the ball," McGuire said. "We didn't get sacks last week. We put a lot of pressure on the quarterback in the second half. We put a lot of pressure on the quarterback the entire game tonight."

McGuire said it was an emotional victory for him, given that he left the Bears' staff in his fifth season at Baylor to take over at Tech. One thing his teams haven't done much of in his first one and a half seasons is win on the road. The victory Saturday made McGuire's Tech teams 2-6 in that department, the other victory last November at Iowa State.

"We found a way to not just win the game, but pull away and win a big conference game on the road," McGuire said. "That was huge. Excited for the team.

"They're really excited because they're a very mature, intelligent team. They understand we haven't played well on the road, so I think they were very determined to come and play the way they did tonight."

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Bears' 4th-down futility made Texas Tech football task easier | Williams