LUBBOCK, Texas — In the aftermath of Texas Tech’s most lopsided home loss since 2011, coach Kliff Kingsbury knew better than to blame West Virginia for running up the score.
Rushel Shell’s 3-yard touchdown run with 2:16 capped a 48-17 blowout and led to a postgame question of whether the Mountaineers should have taken a knee.
“No, no. They’re running their offense,” Kingsbury said. “At that instance, you don’t kick a field goal, you just hand it off like they did, and we couldn’t stop them.”
No, they couldn’t.
West Virginia outrushed Texas Tech 332-34 thanks to Shell gaining 104 yards, Kennedy McKoy running for 99 and Skyler Howard adding 89.
That fed into an overall yardage differential of 650-379, though each team ran 77 plays.
“It’s the worst I’ve seen since I’ve been associated with Texas Tech,” he said. “I’ve never seen a team play that poorly, coaches coach that poorly and just get embarrassed. That was as bad as it gets.”
Kingsbury’s record at Texas Tech sagged to 22-22 overall and just 11-19 in conference games.
Assessing and assuming blame afterward, Kingsbury touched on all facets. Disorganization? Tech’s defense was flagged for 12 men coming out of a quarter break. Lack of resilience? “If we get a lead, we can play all right, but anytime we can get behind, it’s tough.” Intensity? He called out his players for looking sluggish in a game that featured an 11 a.m. start time.
“We had no energy. (West Virginia) wanted it more. They were moving around out there faster. They were making more plays, they were blocking better. Getting off blocks better. Hitting harder. Every phase of the game they dominated,” Kingsbury said.
When the game turned chippy in the fourth quarter, West Virginia cornerback Maurice Fleming was disqualified for targeting. That followed Texas Tech right tackle Justin Murphy being ejected for spearing a defender on a pile.