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The Texas Tech Post-Mortem

The Cyclones absolutely fried Taco Tech.

Texas Tech v Iowa State Photo by David Purdy/Getty Images

The Cyclones romped all over the Texas Tech Red Raiders on Saturday. In the process, they earned back-to-back Big 12 wins, and are now on their first winning streak since 2013 (gulp).

Despite Texas Tech having an extremely potent offense, and probably the best quarterback in the conference in Patrick Mahomes, this game never really seemed to be in doubt. Who on earth saw that coming?

The arm of Jacob Park, the legs of Joel Lanning, and a stout Iowa State defense carried the Cyclones to a 66-10 (!!!) victory.

Here are the good and bad from Saturday’s game.

What Went Right

Is it safe to say.... everything?

In all seriousness, the Cyclones dominated every aspect of the football game. This is hard to comprehend considering the fact that Texas Tech, though 4-7, took Oklahoma and Oklahoma State to the wire- and put up video game numbers on offense.

Defensively, the Cyclones held Texas Tech to 306 yards, their lowest yardage total in game during the Kliff Kingsbury era. The Cyclone secondary intercepted two passes, one returned for a touchdown, and Kamari Cotton-Moya (and dare I say Jamal Wiltz?) continue to star in the back end. The defense also held Tech to only 17 first downs, which is a rather low total for them. ISU defensive coordinator Jon Heacock called one hell of a game, folks.

Offensively, it appears that Matt Campbell and his staff have whipped up the perfect recipe for the 2 quarterback system, and Saturday it was sweeter than a Thanksgiving caramel apple pie. Jacob Park zipped the ball all over the field, and was incredibly accurate on third down. Joel Lanning was the defacto running back, and he ran to the end zone virtually untouched on more than one occasion. In addition, freshman running backs David Montgomery and Kene Nuwangu performed well, and even Mike Warren was worked back into the mix.

How’s this for a 2 QB system:

Jacob Park- 14-18, 285 yards, 3 total TD’s

Joel Lanning- 17 carries, 171 yards, 5 TD’s

Oh and by the way... That Allen Lazard ‘fella sure is something....

What Went Wrong

Is it also safe to say.... nothing?

While this simply cannot be, in all honesty, it’s difficult to find many places to nitpick Iowa State’s dominant performance on Saturday.

While we are here, however, I guess there are a few things we could improve. Clock management, while it worked in Iowa State’s favor, was a source of ire for some fans after the game. Late in the first half, and again early in the second half, the offensive play calling seemed a bit tentative instead of staying aggressive. Before the half, a big pitch and catch from Lanning to Lazard converted a lackluster “run the clock out before half” drive into a Cole (SWOLL) Netten field goal.

In the second half, the conservative play calling came to an end following Tech’s first and only touchdown. While bleeding the clock against a team with a high-powered offense like TTU’s is admirable, often times the only way to beat them is to pile on the points.

The only other big negative from Saturday’s absolute manhandling of Taco Tech? Not getting in field goal range to kick a field goal at the end of the fourth quarter...

Report Card

Offense: A+

Defense: A

Special Teams: A

While these grades may seem a little high, the chances of Iowa State playing 60 minutes of football better than they did on Saturday are not all that high... For now.

The Cyclones end the season with a bout against the Mountaineers of West Virginia in the Riot Bowl on Saturday at 2:30.