Behren Morton threw for 345 yards and a touchdown Saturday night and No. 11 Texas Tech never trailed en route to a 35-11 Big 12 Conference win at Houston in a matchup of unbeatens.
Morton hit 28 of 40 passes for the Red Raiders (5-0, 2-0), which also got a pair of touchdown runs and 107 yards rushing from J’Koby Williams. Texas Tech also got three field goals from Stone Harrington and two more from Upton Bellenfant.
The Cougars (4-1, 1-1) were forced to play two quarterbacks when starter Connor Weigman was knocked out late in the first half with an undisclosed upper-body injury after completing 5 of 12 passes for 71 yards and one interception.
Backup Zeon Chriss was 5-of-13 passing for 93 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Houston managed only 267 total yards and 12 first downs, converting just 1 of 12 third downs, and coughed up three turnovers that led to 10 points.
The Red Raiders initiated the scoring in the first quarter with three field goals. Harrington hit from 26 yards out at the 10:31 mark, followed by Bellenfant’s 33-yarder 53 seconds later and a 23-yard boot from Harrington with 4:34 remaining.
The Cougars got on the board on a 24-yard field goal from Ethan Sanchez with 2:19 left in the first quarter. But Texas Tech answered back, as Morton and Cameron Dickey hooked up for a 69-yard touchdown with 56 seconds left for a 15-3 advantage. It was the biggest play of a big game for Dickey, who also rushed for 98 yards on 21 attempts to finish with 167 yards from scrimmage.
Williams ran for a 5-yard score with 11:11 remaining in the half and Harrington converted from 26 on the first play after the 2-minute timeout. But Houston found the end zone when Chriss teamed with Amare Thomas for a 64-yard touchdown connection 1:27 before halftime.
Bellenfant made it 28-11 on a 29-yard field goal at the 7:44 mark of the third quarter and Williams tacked on the final score with a 1-yard scoring run with 11:34 remaining in the game.
