HOUSTON — Texas Tech jumped out to an early lead behind quarterback Tyler Shough en route to a 42-25 win against Mississippi in the Texas Bowl on Wednesday night.
It was hard to tell that Shough had missed a majority of the past two seasons due to a lingering collarbone injury as the 6-foot-5, 230-pound senior played with reckless abandon. He withstood big hits from Ole Miss defenders following his first two slides, one which led to the ejection of leading tackler Troy Brown.
In the first two quarters, the former Oregon transfer ran for a career high 111 yards and a pair of touchdowns and passed for another to go with 242 yards in the air — while the defense recorded three takeaways.
After watching teammates make plays while rehabbing a broken collarbone, twice, Shough bounced back after an early interception and willed his team to a 19-lead at halftime that Texas Tech never relinquished.
He got some help from Dadrion Taylor-Demerson, who is also returning on his COVID-bonus year. The defensive back recorded an interception, stopped a fake punt with a shoe-string tackle and recovered a fumble all in the first half. Texas Tech converted those opportunities into 10 points.
That 19-point advantage dwindled to two scores after Jaxson Dart, beating a blitz and sustaining a hit in the process, found Jordan Watkins for an 11-yard TD pass to close the gap to 26-13 with 9:08 left in the third quarter. Jonathan Cruz’s extra point was wide right after the score.
The Red Raiders created a bit more separation as SaRodorick Thompson scored a 1-yard touchdown, his 40th career score, untouched to put the Red Raiders ahead 32-13 with 13:20 left in the game.
Mississippi closed the gap to 10 points as Malik Heath hauled in a 19-yard TD, though the Rebels could not convert the two-point conversion.
Texas Tech responded in a big way on the onside kick as Loic Fouonji caught the ball and returned it 44 yards to put the advantage back to three scores at 42-25 with 3:05 left in the fourth.
That capped a banner day that started with Texas Tech announcing a new six-year deal that added a year and provided a $1 million raise for coach Joey McGuire.
A strong first half allowed the Red Raiders to withstand a late-game surge from the Rebels.
Defensive back Malik Dunlap broke up a pass from Dart to wide receiver Jonathan Mingo, on fourth-and-7, to force a turnover on downs and provide the Red Raider offense a chance to crack a scoreless tie.
It looked promising as Shough needed six plays to march Texas Tech to the Rebels 11, after a personal foul penalty, but he made a mistake on the next play. Looking for a receiver in the corner, Shough underthrew the pass and was intercepted by Trey Washington.
The Red Raiders defense turned in another turnover on downs before Shough atoned for his earlier mistake. On fourth-and-goal from the Rebels 2, the Texas Tech signal caller ran for a 2-yard touchdown to cap off a 7-play, 27-yard drive toward the 7-0 lead with 6:43 left in the first quarter.
Soon enough, the lead was 10-7 after Trey Wolff knocked in a 42-yard field goal at the 3:23 mark of the first that held as the quarter came to an end.
In the second, Texas Tech bumbled a golden opportunity, facing second-and-goal from the Rebels 1, before turning it over on downs following a Behren Morton incompletion and Xavier White unable to find an open running lane on a fourth-down screen to the left.
That continued Texas Tech’s less-than-stellar night in the red zone, but the Red Raiders defense aided the offense in crucial spots.
Marquis Waters, a tackling machine in the backfield throughout the season, provided a key interception on the fifth play of Ole Miss’s ensuing drive.
The Texas Tech offense took control, scoring 16 points to secure a 26-7 advantage at the midway point.
The final two quarters saw the Rebels turn the tide with turnovers and provide some late-game dramatics before the Red Raiders salted away their second consecutive bowl victory.
