CORVALLIS, Ore. (KCBD) – There’s much relief for the No. 13 Texas Tech Red Raiders, who have plenty of reasons to exhale up there in the Pacific Northwest. Saturday evening, they fought off an unexpected challenge from the Oregon State Beavers (0-2) and left Reser Stadium with a 35-24 win.
“The biggest thing that happened is we found a way to win a game on the road,” said Texas Tech head football coach Joey McGuire. “We were in a dark fight in the fourth quarter, you go back a couple years ago when we’re at Washington State and it’s a close game and we find a way to lose the game, instead of finding a way to win the game. Right now, early in college football and again as frustrated as I am at times, I’m not going to apologize for being 2-0!”
While trailing 24-21 midway through the fourth quarter, the Red Raiders retook the lead when quarterback Will Hammond completed a 32-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Coy Eakin to go up 28-24. Moments later, with 1:19 remaining, Tech got the ball back after stopping the Beavers on fourth down at the Oregon State 9-yard line. Seconds later, backup QB Thomas Castellanos found tight end Matt Ludvig in the end zone for the final score of the night.
Castellanos, who officially became a Red Raider three weeks ago, accounted for two scores in his Tech debut. During the first quarter, his seven-yard touchdown carry gave Tech a 7-0 lead. He was also used in different package plays at different parts of the game and showed to be a potential difference-maker in the red zone, where Tech struggled last week against Abilene Christian.
Hammond, who completed 20 of 27 passes for 189 yards is now 2-0 this year as the team’s starter, and Eakin led the receiving room with six catches for 79 yards, including his fourth-quarter touchdown catch.
“I know this was a tough one in the hostile environment,” Eakin said. “Just like Will says all the time in the huddle is like find a way to win, it doesn’t matter what kind of game it is. You just got to find a way to win, and I just like how we came in there you know with one mind, we kept the huddles tight, and we created our own energy.”
Red Raider running back J’Koby Williams was one of the standout players Saturday night. He turned in 20 carries for 116 yards and a third-quarter touchdown.
“I thought J’Koby Williams played really well,” McGuire said. “He’s very patient and had some big runs and it was good to see guys step up like Coy Eakin stepped up on that touchdown. You know we knew that we had a weapon in Kenny Johnson. I thought Kenny Johnson you know it’s a really big punt returns, and then you know it was good to see Malcolm Simmons there at the end with some of the kickoff returns so those are good things that happened.”
Rainy conditions affected play for both teams, and tight end Terrance Carter Jr. was ruled out due to injury.
While Tech’s signature defense remained dominant on the ground, and held the Beavers to 69 rushing yards, they struggled to contain Oregon State’s passing game and allowed 403 yards in the air. Freshman receiver Jesse Legree gave Tech headaches all evening, making eight catches for 240 yards and two touchdowns.
“Performance-wise, I felt like we played with high effort throughout the game,” said Red Raider linebacker Ben Roberts, who is also one of the team captains. “Performance-wise, I feel like we played with a very high effort throughout the whole game. There are just a couple moments that my eyes got bad, a couple busted plays, but when we were firing on all cylinders, we were a really good defense.”
Hammond was also sacked four times, and the team was penalized seven times.
The Red Raiders have six days before hosting the No. 22 Houston Cougars 7 p.m. Friday at Galaxy Stadium. The game is airing on FOX.
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