1. Charlie Strong has taken a bunch of heat of late, deservedly so, but this was one of his best coaching jobs in the last couple years. People were shoveling dirt on the team and Strong in the first quarter, but the defensive performance the rest of the way was pretty damn stellar. For all the questionable in-game coaching decisions Strong usually makes, he deserves a ton of credit for the product his team put on the field on Saturday aside from ...
2. What in the world could Sterlin Gilbert be thinking to go away from D'Onta Foreman in key situations in the fourth quarter? I guess some of that blame could fall on Strong since he should be able to overrule those decisions, but not running Foreman on third and fourth down late in the game is inexcusable.
3. Just retire the 18-wheeler package already.
4. I really don't know what else to say about D'Onta Foreman at this point. That dude is damn near single-handedly saving Charlie Strong's job. It's pretty frightening to think about what Texas' season would be without a healthy Foreman on the roster.
5. D'Onta Foreman a poor man's Derrick Henry? That's an insult to Foreman. Horrible comparison.
6. Texas Tech's defense may be the worst I've ever seen. It did force a couple big turnovers that helped keep the game close, but for most of the game, that group looked like it didn't even want to be on the field. A couple friends of mine who are Red Raider fans bitch and moan every week about how frustrating it is to watch their team and I think I understand it now. I can't imagine being a diehard fan and actually having to watch that group every week.
7. Make it back-to-back impressive games by Malik Jefferson. He was called on to play a big role in this one as the spy on Patrick Mahomes, and Jefferson responded big-time. Jefferson finished with a team-high 8 tackles and 1.5 sacks.
8. You had to know Tech was going to get its yards and points, but I thought the defensive game plan drawn up by Strong was fantastic. The Longhorns very rarely rushed more than three, showed pressure and then backed off and played a lot of zone, and it really seemed to keep Tech's offense out of rhythm. Spying Mahomes with Jefferson and Jeffrey McCulloch was another tactic that worked very well, and Texas' ability to get pressure with just three rushers may have been the difference in the game.
9. A Texas road win where the Longhorns actually played pretty well? I'm still a little shocked.
10. Hey A&M, how were those few days in the spotlight?
11. Huge play by Kris Boyd to secure the interception to seal the game. Boyd has played very well of late, but man that guy is a penalty waiting to happen. Regardless, he came up big today and the good far outweighs the bad.
12. I didn't really have a problem with the call on D'Onta Foreman's fumble that led to a Tech touchdown. That one was pretty close. But how in the hell was Kyle Porter's fumble not overruled due to forward progress? Another week of stellar Big 12 officiating.
13. Speaking of Porter's fumble, that single play nearly flipped the game. Tech was pretty much dead and buried before that, but the turnover seemed to recharge the Red Raiders and the crowd. It was a bad call by the officials, but Porter has to do a better job of securing the football in a key situation like that.
14. Holton Hill had his best game of the year by far. That guys has been absent for most of the year and struggled in the rare times he's been on the field, but he was very good today. Hill finished with 7 tackles and was good in coverage.
15. Those passes by Buechele to Collin Johnson in the end zone were a thing of beauty, and the catches by Johnson were pretty damn impressive as well. More of that, please.
16. Texas still doesn't use the middle of the field enough on offense. There were a few passes thrown between the hashes today, and as usual, they were successful. I'm sure Gilbert has his reasons, but I still can't quite figure out why nearly every route/throw seems to go to the outside.
17. It's a small thing, but I loved the effort turned in by Devin Duvernay on Tech's 100-yard fumble return. He nearly walked the DB down coming from the opposite side of the field. That's an A+ effort by Duvernay.
18. Tech had more than 200 yards of offense in the first quarter, but finished the game with 482. Giving up nearly 500 yards against most opponents usually will result in a loss, but this was a pretty damn good performance overall by the Texas D.
19. Is Strong now locked in to come back for next year? I'm sure there will be a lot of that talk, but as I've said all along, this thing can swing in a hurry. Let's see what happens next week against a good West Virginia team before we make any final declarations. But yes, today was a huge step towards saving his job.
Player of the game: Let's just go ahead and rename this the "D'Onta Foreman Award." Foreman was once again dominant, going for 341 yards and 3 touchdowns on 33 carries. That man deserves a Heisman invitation.
Best position group: Several groups played well, including the secondary, linebackers, defensive line and running backs (aside from two big fumbles), but I'm going to give the nod to the offensive line. That group opened some big holes for Foreman and Porter and protected Buechele well in the passing game.
This game was over when ... Boyd secured his interception in the end zone. Honestly, it shouldn't have come down to the wire like it did.
Best decision: Rushing three and forcing Mahomes to make reads downfield. The defensive game plan by Strong was phenomenal and kept Tech off-balance for most of the game.
Head-scratcher: Gilbert's decision to go away from Foreman in a couple key instances late in the game was hard to understand. For the life of me, I can't find the logic in those calls.
What's next? The Longhorns will return home with a ton of momentum to face West Virginia, which will come in with a 7-1 record. This should be a pretty evenly-matched game on paper, but if Texas can continue to build off the last two weeks it will have a great chance to win its third game in a row.
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