WACO, TX – OCTOBER 7: Tahj Brooks #28 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders dives past Reggie Bush #22 of the Baylor Bears and into the end zone to score a touchdown during the second half at McLane Stadium on October 7, 2023 in Waco, Texas. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)
Behren Morton threw for 180 yards with three touchdowns while running for another score, Tahj Brooks ran 31 times for 170 yards, and Texas Tech beat Baylor 39-14 on Saturday night.
A year after a four-touchdown loss at home against the Bears, Texas Tech (3-3, 2-1 Big 12) took the lead for good when Morton threw a 13-yard TD to Coy Eakin on its first drive.
“I’m so fired up for our team,” Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire said. “Great road win. That’s one thing we’ve talked about is we haven’t been very good on the road, and I thought our guys were focused all week, and it was a great conference road win.”
Morton completed 19 of 26 passes, including scoring strikes of 16 and 18 yards to Baylor Cupp on his only catches of the night.
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Brooks and Morton both had TD runs in the fourth quarter. It was the fourth consecutive 100-yard rushing game for Brooks, whose 18-yard score made it 32-11.
Baylor (2-4, 1-2) has allowed 100-yard rushers in each of its Big 12 games.
Blake Shapen, in his second game back since missing three games because of an MCL injury in his left knee, was 22-for-38 passing for 324 yards with a 71-yard touchdown to Monaray Baldwin in the fourth quarter for the Bears. Baldwin finished with five catches for 126 yards, but Baylor was held to 17 yards rushing on 30 attempts.
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“I really felt coming off last week and the week we had of practice was very energetic and positive and felt a swagger on offense, and it was just not seen in this outcome, so I’m just very disappointed,” Baylor coach Dave Aranda said. “I’m still hopeful and still believe in the team, and that was the message that we just had.”
McGUIRE’S RETURN
Baylor had won four of the previous five games in the series, including the previous two games since former Bears assistant McGuire became Texas Tech’s head coach midway through the 2021 season. McGuire was in his fifth season on the Baylor staff when Tech hired him that November and moved to Lubbock immediately. He didn’t take over game-day duties until after that season, so McGuire didn’t travel to Waco for the 2021 regular-season finale when Baylor won 27-24. His first home loss with the Red Raiders was 45-17 to the Bears last October.
“A lot of emotions,” McGuire said. “I was here for five years. I was part of 2019 playing for the conference championship, and in 2021, I left, but they won the conference championship. I think if it was last year at Baylor, it would have been even more emotional because of the number of guys that were on the team. There were still a lot of kids that I absolutely love that I helped with recruiting, but at the end of the day, it’s all about the conference win.”
NO HOME ADVANTAGE
Baylor played the fifth of its record eight home games this season. The Bears are 1-4 at McLane Stadium.
THE TAKEAWAY
Texas Tech: The Red Raiders won this game up front on both sides of the ball. Texas Tech had 11 tackles for loss and six sacks, while Baylor didn’t create a negative play until Brooks was stopped for a 1-yard loss in the final five minutes. Texas Tech was 10-for-17 on third-down conversions.
Baylor: A week after the Bears had a school-record comeback, rallying from 35-7 deficit late in the third quarter to stun UCF 36-35, they once again stumbled out of the gate and trailed 17-3 at halftime. Baylor has been outscored 111-32 in the first half of its five games against FBS opponents.
UP NEXT
Texas Tech will return home to meet defending Big 12 champion Kansas State next Saturday.
Baylor has an open date before playing Oct. 21 at Big 12 newcomer Cincinnati.
