Offense grades: Opening game of the season falls short

The offense had to step up very quickly after Ole Miss scored on the second drive of the game. However, after McLane Carter got injured, the offense couldn’t compete with the quickness of Ole Miss’ offense.

Quarterbacks: C

Before Carter was taken out of the game with an ankle injury, he went 4-7 with 49 total yards. True freshman Alan Bowman took his place and played the rest of the game, going 29-49 with 273 yards and one touchdown. Carter looked a lot more comfortable than last year and I thought did well before he went down. You could tell Bowman had some first-game jitters (which is understandable) but he needs to focus on getting those longer passes completed next week. Bowman did okay in his first start and I definitely believe he will do much better against Lamar once his nerves are gone.

Running backs: B-

Da’Leon Ward led Texas Tech’s run game with 90 yards on 17 attempts and two touchdowns. Following him was Tre King with 13 yards on three carries. Texas Tech totaled 179 rushing yards with other players like Carter and Alan Bowman contributing to this number. Even though Ward looked explosive in the backfield, the running game could have done better. Giving the backs the ball more against Lamar might give Tech a big edge in the game.

Wide receivers: B

How about T.J. Vasher though? He made at least two highlight reel catches in this game alone, which let people outside of Texas Tech’s fanbase finally see how much talent he has. Antoine Wesley led the receiving group with six receptions, followed by Vasher, Ja’Deion High, KeSean Carter and Tre King with four. The receiving group totaled 322 yards on 33 receptions. The receivers have the talent to do even better in the following games.

Offensive line: B+

The offensive line helped the running backs achieve almost 200 yards in the game and didn’t allow any sacks on the quarterbacks. This is a talented group who will be consistently good every week.