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MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Texas Tech football team won eight games this season, but the Red Raiders weren’t perfect. Far from it.
They were especially lacking on defense, and it cost defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter and defensive passing game coordinator Marcel Yates their jobs. The vulnerability showed up again Friday night in the Liberty Bowl as Arkansas big-played Tech to pieces and walked away with a 39-26 victory.
“Some of our things that showed up all year long showed up again,” said Tech coach Joey McGuire, whose team finished 8-5. “We gave up too many big plays, and the times we haven’t played well, that’s what we’ve done.”
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Arkansas (7-6), playing without its leading rusher, three starting interior linemen and its top three pass catchers this season, nevertheless rolled up 559 yards and nearly every Razorbacks touchdown stemmed from a big play. Quarterback Taylen Green was named the game’s most valuable player after passing for 341 yards and two touchdowns and rushing for 81 yards and a TD.
“I thought he had a great game,” said linebacker Jacob Rodriguez, who was named Tech’s outstanding defensive player. “The kind of stuff that we knew they liked to do, he did, but he just did it at a really high level. That dimension, to be able to run the ball, was obviously working, but it was something that put a lot of tax on us.”
Green paid more than casual attention early in the week when he spotted the individual Liberty Bowl trophies at a function for the teams.
“When we walked into Dave & Buster’s, I saw all the trophies shining,” he said. “I was like, ‘Is that the MVP trophy? All right, I need that.'”
Arkansas built a 21-3 lead in the first 13 minutes….
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/arkansas-big-play-attack-overwhelms-061519867.html
Author : Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
Publish date : 2024-12-28 06:15:00
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