1. Game Links:

Game Recap
Stats
Post Game Notes
Highlights

B+	PASS OFFENSE
This grade is everything NOT INCLUDING THE 1ST QUARTER because that if you consider that, it’s not going to be pretty. Hammond became a bit more of who he is supposed to be.
B+	RUN OFFENSE
Same thing as above, 2 rushing yards in the 1st quarter, but 166 the rest of the way. The actual rushing side and the offensive line looked much improved (and with different players).
C+	PASS DEFENSE
Enough to get things done, but still things to fix. Improvement over last week, but still room to grow.
C+	RUN DEFENSE
Statistically, not a great day as well, allowing 4.8 yards per rush, but the most important rush for 2 points was stopped short.
B	COACHING
The thing with Tommy Castellanos out there for the 1st play seemed to get a little too cute. McGuire said after the game that Terrance Carter was open for a huge play, but Castellanos had almost no time to make a play and the rest is history. Sometimes it is good to just be who you are.

2. Hammond Looks More Like Hammond. We talked about during the preseason that the injury that Will Hammond had just takes time. There was no remedy that would speed things up more than time. Last week, Hammond looked tenative and I don’t know if someone finally gave Hammond permission to be more himself and go run a bit and don’t wait for the pocket to collapse and it is too late.

And maybe the staff is learning a lesson or two. I mentioned last week that there was a point in the Oregon State game where Hammond was on the sideline, maybe he made a bad play previously, pumping up his teammates and wanting to be the guy to get into the game and the staff promptly puts in Castellanos where it fizzles. Rather than put that confidence in Hammond to start the game, the staff simply didn’t do that and not once did Hammond falter or blink. Want to spot Houston 10 points? Fine, I’ll do my best.

A final line of 17 of 27, 63% completion rate, 9.18 yards per attempt, a touchdown and an interception, that might not have happened had Micah Hudson kept his feet.

3. Wanted the Defense to Make Plays and They Did. Finally. Or thank you. Felt like it was a long time coming and I’m happy to see it. There were 5 tackles for a loss, 3 of which were sacks, 2 forced fumbles and 1 recovery, and players that were supposed to make plays did make plays. Adam Trick showed up big time today and I thought Ben Roberts had a terrific game. Davin Martin stepped up big-time. Austin Romaine gets beat badly for the touchdown to bring Houston to 26-28 and then is the guy along with Mateen Ibirogba who make the stop to win the damn game. A.J. Holmes gets a tackle for a loss. This helps a ton for me when the defense didn’t always stop Houston, the defense did step up and make plays.

4. Rushing Game Continues. Considering there were only 2 rushing yards the 1st quarter, the 166 for the game is actually tremendous. J’Koby Williams continues to show that he is the most explosive back, but it was good to see Cameron Dickey make some plays. In fact, Dickey had carries of 12, 13, and 12 yards over the course of the game and if he’s able to rip off those types of plays, then that makes him infinitely better. For the record, Williams had 76 all-purpose yards and Dickey had 78 with a touchdown by each.

5. Johnson Shines. Before the season started I thought that Kenny Johnson would be an absolute stud and he’s proving that to be correct. He’s clearly the best receiver, and he’s had the most reps at Pittsburgh where he was the guy. 113 yards on 4 catches, 2 of which were special grabs, and that’s 28 yards a catch with a touchdown. Am I worried about Micah Hudson? No, I still think he’s going to be good because teams are going to put a safety on top of Johnson at some point and I think Hudson will still shine.

6. Your Punter is a Weapon. I don’t know that Will Karoll will get a tortilla (and maybe he should), but Karoll had 3 punts for an average of 59 yards, and he was sort of robbed of having a punt inside the 3-yard line. What a gift to see him boot footballs.

7. Advanced Things. Let’s go.

• Texas Tech was in passing downs only 27% of the time, which means that they kept the sticks in front of them most of the game. Downside? Houston was only in passing downs 24%, which means they were slightly better and that the defense wasn’t getting stops like you need them to.
• Texas Tech had 14 big plays for 294 yards. That’s a huge improvement in terms of explosiveness and something that had to happen. That’s an average of 21 yards per big play. Hammond was 3 of 9 deep, which I am absolutely okay with. Houston had 12 for 209, which is still a bit concerning, but I think with the pass rush coming around, this will get better.
• Both teams were 60% in 3rd downs and Texas Tech still wasn’t great at the distance, 8.1 average per 3rd down and Houston was 5.4. The difference is that Houston was 9 of 15 and Texas Tech was 6 of 10.

8. Idle Thoughts.

• Are we going to complain about penalties? Maybe. Sheridan Wilson has another illegal snap. Jacob Ponton got a holding call and so did Cash Cleveland.
• Let’s talk about the offensive line. Late in the game Cleveland gets the call at guard and he’s begging to run the damn ball. Daniel Still is playing with aggression. This is with the game on the line and needing to score. Yeah, I want guys who are playing with aggression and they were. They won’t be perfect, but I’m fine lighting motivational fires.
• Terrance Carter had a terrfic play, a dropped pass, and maybe hurt his ankle again. I’d probably keep him out against Sam Houston.
• With that being said, I think that Jett Carpenter probably lacks the ability to strech the field, but I think he can be an excellent replacement.
• Brendan Jordan makes his return and ends up with 10 tackles. Yes, definitely needed him for the first 2 games.
• Also, Trey White looked good and am excited to see more.
• Sometimes I felt like Adam Trick was getting too wide on his rush and I’m not a pass rushing expect, so that’s probably wrong, but there were times that the time it takes was just a bit too long and to shorten it just a bit would seemingly make a difference.
• Malik Esquerra is very good and I enjoy watching him play. Same thing with Peyton Morgan.
• The 3rd down stop on 3rd down where Houston had to kick a field goal was a huge play by John Curry. Houston was about to go for it and the crowd got someone to jump and the Cougars had to settle for a field goal when they were down to the Texas Tech 4-yard line.

Dug deep. pic.twitter.com/7GGN1nbnfL

— Texas Tech Football (@TexasTechFB) September 19, 2026

🤩🤩🤩 pic.twitter.com/xffOFWNEoV

— Texas Tech University (@TexasTech) September 19, 2026

9. Coach Comments.

10. Tortilla Tossin’ Players of the Game.

Kenny Johnson gets the first tortilla, huge game and although it was just 4 grabs, he had 113 yards. He’s really talented and am glad he’s on Texas Tech’s team.

Adam Trick and A.J. Holmes are sharing this with maybe Ben Roberts getting some love on this too. You need your guys to make plays and Trick finally did. Thankful for that.

Will Hammond, you broke out of your shell and loved your game. Give me 4 full quarters of this and I think Texas Tech can cook. Every week he gets a bit better. Take all 3 tortillas.