{"id":107900,"date":"2026-01-01T22:43:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T22:43:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/107900\/"},"modified":"2026-01-01T22:43:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T22:43:09","slug":"why-texas-techs-offense-came-up-short-against-oregon-in-the-college-football-playoff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/107900\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Texas Tech\u2019s offense came up short against Oregon in the College Football Playoff"},"content":{"rendered":"

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. \u2014 There is no soft way to say Texas Tech\u2019s season ended Thursday<\/a> because of its offense. <\/p>\n

Quarterback Behren Morton<\/a> threw two picks. Running back Cameron Dickey had a fumble. The offensive line allowed four sacks. And regardless of field position, the offense stalled. <\/p>\n

Why? Because Texas Tech<\/a> became predictable. <\/p>\n

At first, it was creative play calling from first-year offensive coordinator Mack Leftwich. A tight end screen for Terrance Carter Jr. or an outside zone run for J\u2019Koby Williams allowed for Texas Tech\u2019s skill positions to make the play after the catch or after contact. And it worked for a while.<\/p>\n

Sports Roundup<\/p>\n

Get the latest D-FW sports news, analysis and opinion delivered straight to your inbox. Plus, Kevin Sherrington’s A La Carte.<\/p>\n

By signing up, you agree to our\u00a0Terms of Service<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\"Oregon<\/p>\n

Carter and Williams each had a 20-plus-yard play in every game of the first four games.<\/p>\n

Cracks began to show against then-No. 16 Utah when Texas Tech had 10 points up until a quarterback change. Then again, when backup Will Hammond started against Arizona State and Texas Tech was held to one score until the fourth quarter. <\/p>\n

The big revelation came against the-No. 7 BYU when Texas Tech\u2019s offense stalled consistently, resulting in a program-high five field goals. That game was against now-Michigan defensive coordinator Jay Hill, who was regarded as one of the top defensive coordinators in the Big 12. <\/p>\n

Without change, the same product was on the field against No. 5 Oregon Thursday in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals. However, Leftwich told media Sunday that Big 12 coordinators who had bested him at times in the regular season gave him information over the bye week. <\/p>\n

Thursday was the worst scoring output Texas Tech\u2019s offense has produced since being shutout in 2021.<\/p>\n

\"Texas<\/a>Behren Morton emotional as Texas Tech tenure comes to an end: \u2018I love this university\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

The fifth-year QB led Texas Tech to its first College Football Playoff and helped put the Red Raiders back on the map.<\/p>\n

\"Texas<\/a>Texas Tech TE Terrance Carter Jr. pledges return for 2026 season after loss to Oregon<\/a><\/p>\n

The junior tight end had 72 receiving yards in Texas Tech\u2019s CFP loss<\/p>\n

Find more Texas Tech coverage from The Dallas Morning News here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. \u2014 There is no soft way to say Texas Tech\u2019s season ended Thursday because of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":107901,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7092,3688,154,27,29,28,415],"class_list":{"0":"post-107900","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-texas","8":"tag-behren-morton","9":"tag-colleges","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-texas","12":"tag-texas-headlines","13":"tag-texas-news","14":"tag-texas-tech-red-raiders"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107900"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107900\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}