Texas Tech outlasts West Virginia 53-48 in Big 12 shootout

Texas Tech beat West Virginia 53-48 on Saturday in a Big 12 shootout, with quarterback Thomas Castellanos throwing for 362 yards and five touchdowns, ESPN reported.

Jkoby Williams added 160 yards on the ground for the Red Raiders. West Virginia’s Taron Francis caught three passes for 169 yards and a touchdown in the loss.

Texas Tech improved to 8-1. West Virginia fell to 5-4.

What the coverage missed

Castellanos threw five touchdown passes. That is the headline, and it got the headline. What did not get attention is that he completed 18 of 27 passes. That is 13.4 yards per attempt. He was not dinking and dunking. He was pushing the ball down the field, and West Virginia could not stop it.

The combined score is 101 points. Both defenses were bad. Texas Tech won because its quarterback was better, not because its defense showed up. The Red Raiders gave up 48 points at home and won. That is not a sustainable formula.

West Virginia is 5-4 and needs one more win to reach bowl eligibility. The Mountaineers have three games left. They will probably get it, but this was a game they could have won if they had made one stop in the fourth quarter.

What I think

Texas Tech is the most interesting team in the Big 12. They are 8-1, their quarterback is playing out of his mind, and nobody expected this. The playoff committee will have to decide whether a one-loss Big 12 team belongs in the field. If Castellanos keeps playing like this, they will be hard to leave out.

The defense is the problem. You cannot give up 48 points and win a playoff game. Texas Tech will face a team that can score and stop people, and that will be the end. But for now, they are winning, and winning is what matters in November.