It’s About the Takeaways. LAJ’s Don Williams writes that the defense was all about the takeaways on Saturday and is still giving up big yards:

David Gibbs cautioned not long after he got hired as defensive coordinator that, while he had a reputation for defenses that force turnovers, not to expect too much too soon.

At some point, though, he had confidence it would click with the players he inherited. The incessant strip drills that yield fumbles. The zone-coverage concepts that produce interceptions. They’d kick in at some point, especially the interception chances, he felt, and the Red Raiders would be off and running.

Maybe the time has come. In addition to the three interceptions Iowa State QBs threw, three or four more throws were close to being picked off. Madison could’ve had three by himself, not reacting quickly enough to a tipped ball in front of him on one occasion and another time nearly scooping one along the turf.

Big Plays on Offense. There’s no byline, but I believe that this is LAJ’s Nicholas Talbot writing that the Texas Tech offense was all about big plays:

Heck, even fourth-string running back Demarcus Felton got into the action, scoring on a 53-yard run as time winded down in the fourth quarter.

But not all of them were short drives. Grant’s 75 yarder was a one-play series.

The others? They went for three, nine, seven, seven and six plays.

All were spurred by the big play.

On a third and 30, Mahomes came up with a 31-yard pass to Ja’Deion High. The next play was Washington’s 49-yard scamper.

It defined the Red Raiders’ day — all or nothing.

And that’s why Mahomes, who must be an amazing dodgeball player, is so crucial.

His ability to dodge, dip, dive, duck, and dodge keeps plays alive long enough for his receivers to work their way open.

But, the receivers still have to make a play.

Leaving a Legacy. Via the official site, they did a feature on Le’Raven Clark on Saturday. These are actually good features, but if anyone from the official site reads this stuff, these sorts of features tend to get buried on game day and these could be so much more impactful if they were featured during the week. Most people aren’t reading a ton of stuff on Saturday, not like on the weekdays where a lot of folks are in front of their computers. In any event, it’s a good piece and here’s offensive line coach Lee Hays:

“The thing about Le’Raven is that it starts with his character,” offensive line coach Lee Hays said. “The kid has never been late. You don’t have to worry about him going to class. You don’t have to worry about off-the-field issues. His teammates voting him a captain says a lot about his character. As far as his position goes, he’s as solid of a kid as I’ve ever coached.”

Celebrating Hispanic Heritage. Also via the official site is a piece on two sets of Hispanic twins within the athletic department, Tony and Alfredo Morales on the football field and also Gabbie and Gwennie Puente on the soccer pitch. Again, I think the athletic site gets a lot more coverage during the week as this is a good piece and you get to know both sets of athletes.

Playing Like It Is Always the Second Half. LAJ’s Nicholas Talbot writes about how the defense should play like it is the second half all of the time:

I know being ranked No. 48 in scoring defense wouldn’t be awesome on its own.

But, with the Red Raiders’ offense it would be.

Heck, Baylor’s defense is ranked No. 51.

And the Bears, who have the top offense in the nation, are ranked No.2 in the country.

Who has the second ranked offense? That would be Texas Tech.

And the defense knows it.

Miscellaneous. ESPN has Texas Tech going to the AdvoCare V100 Texas Bowl in their bowl predictions . . . of all things, the ESPN Big 12 Blog Bros have Texas Tech 4th in their Big 12 conference power rankings . . . LAJ’s Don Williams has his post-game notebook . . . DMN’s Mike DuPont has his five things from the game . . . SAEN’s Tim Griffin has his weekly Dirty Dozen power rankings which is a ranking of all of the colleges in Texas . . . the DMN also has their rankings of all of the colleges in Texas . . .