Four Thoughts on Texas Tech’s 35-33 Loss to Wyoming
The Texas Tech Red Raiders lost to the Wyoming Cowboys, 35-33, in the 2023 season opener for both teams. Here are four thoughts on the game.
The contest went into double overtime and Wyoming snapped a streak of 11 straight losses against Big 12 teams. The Red Raiders, meanwhile, lost its 13th straight season opener outside the state of Texas. The game started more than an hour due to severe weather in the area.
Tech Starts Fast
Texas Tech wants tempo and they want a fast start to the game. Well, the Red Raiders got it, scoring 17 points in the first quarter.
The Red Raiders scored touchdowns on each of their first two drives, the second set up by a Wyoming turnover. Quarterback Tyler Shough hit Myles Price for a 33-yard touchdown on Tech’s opening drive, and then followed that with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Jayden York.
With Gino Garcia’s 54-yard field goal giving Tech a 17-0 lead, everything seemed to be clicking for Texas Tech.
The key word here was ‘seemed.’ Once the game flipped to the second quarter, the momentum started to flip, too.
What Happened?
Texas Tech started making mistakes, the kind of mistakes that made them a 1-4 road team last season. Wyoming scored 10 second-quarter points. How?
After Wyoming’s John Hoyland kicked a 56-yard field goal early in the second quarter, Shough threw an interception on the second play of the ensuing drive. Wyoming quarterback Andrew Peasley connected with Caleb Driskell for a 4-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 17-10.
At halftime, Red Raiders coach Joey McGuire told CBS that penalties, turnovers and quarterback protection were hurting them.
That didn’t change the way he hoped in the second half. Wyoming added to that by winning the time of possession game. The Cowboys kept their offense on the field for 34 minutes by the end of regulation. They equalized the game with a drive that lasted nearly eight minutes and ended with a Sam Scott 16-yard touchdown run.
By the way, Scott is well down the depth chart and got more playing time because the top two running backs were out for Wyoming.
Tech nearly took the lead on the next drive, but the Cowboys blocked Garcia’s field goal attempt.
Then, a critical mistake by Tech helped Wyoming take the lead. Peasley scrambled for 17 yards and went out of bounds at his own 48, but he was shoved well out of bounds by Tech’s Tyler Owens, giving the Cowboys an extra 15 yards.
Eventually, the Red Raiders limited them to a 31-yard Hoyland field goal with 8:58 left to put the Cowboys up 20-17.
The Final Moments
Tech still had a chance to tie or win, and they drove well into Wyoming territory, but the drive sputtered at the Cowboys 32 and Garcia had to attempt a 50-yard field goal. He hit a 54-yarder earlier in the game. This one wasn’t blocked. But, it hit the right upright, bounced toward the left upright and landed just in front of the crossbar. It was his third miss of the night, including a miss at the end of the first half.
That left Tech in a pickle. It needed its defense to give them one more possession. And the Red Raiders did, forcing a three-and-out after the missed field goal.
From there, Shough navigated the Red Raiders into Cowboys territory, helped by a 27-yard completion to Jordan Brown that moved Tech to the 14-yard line.
From there, the Red Raiders couldn’t get in the end zone and handed it over to Garcia for a 27-yard field goal. He split the uprights to tie the game and send it to overtime.
In OT
Wyoming got the ball first and Peasley led the Cowboys to a touchdown, with his 5-yard touchdown run giving them the lead. With its first possession, Texas Tech stayed entirely on the ground for the score, with Shough doing most of the honors before Tahj Brooks plunged in from six yards out to tie the game.
In the second overtime, Tech started with the football and eventually Shough connected with Jerand Bradley for a beautiful 15-yard fade for a touchdown. Needing to go for two, Shough was on the run and threw an incompletion.
Tech needed a stop and it nearly had it. On fourth down at the 11 the Red Raiders went for a full-on blitz. Peasley withstood it and tossed the ball out to John Michael Gyllenborg for a score to tie the game.
Wyoming then had a chance to win on a two-point conversation and put in the hands of Scott, who went off-tackle for the conversion and the win.
It was the first overtime loss under McGuire and the Red Raiders are now 1-5 on the road under the second-year coach.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
