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  • Behren Morton Tosses Four Touchdowns As Texas Tech Rolls Oregon State In Lubbock

Behren Morton Tosses Four Touchdowns As Texas Tech Rolls Oregon State In Lubbock

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Football

(BCSNN) — Behren Morton threw for a career-high 464 yards and four touchdowns as No. 21 Texas Tech (3-0) cruised past Oregon State (0-3) with a 45-14 victory Saturday night at Jones AT&T Stadium. The Red Raiders built a 28-0 halftime lead and never looked back, racking up 601 total yards in a game delayed more than two hours due to lightning.

Morton completed 23 of 35 passes, connecting on scoring strikes of 38, 61, 30, and 23 yards. His lone interception came late in the third quarter with the game well in hand.

“I do think we have a really good football team, but I don’t think we’ve come close to how good we can be,” said Tech head coach Joey McGuire. “We’re just going to try to keep building every single week. Challenge these guys. They feel it, too.”

Oregon State quarterback Maalik Murphy struggled to find consistency against Texas Tech’s aggressive front. He finished 24-of-43 for 278 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions, both coming in the red zone. The Beavers were held to just 8 net rushing yards, with running back Anthony Hankerson managing 12 yards on 11 carries. Murphy’s touchdown passes came in the fourth quarter, long after the game was out of reach.

Texas Tech’s ground game was led by sophomore Cameron Dickey, who rushed for 77 yards on 17 carries and added a 4-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter. J’Koby Williams also contributed with a rushing score and a receiving touchdown, part of a balanced attack that saw four different Red Raiders reach the end zone.

The win marked Texas Tech’s first 3-0 start under McGuire, now in his fourth season. “Anytime you’re replacing the all-time leading rusher and you’ve got a group that’s played the way they’ve played, I’ve been proud of them,” McGuire said earlier in the week when asked about Dickey and the running back rotation. The Red Raiders have now scored 174 points through three games, ranking among the nation’s top offenses.

Texas Tech heads to Salt Lake City next Saturday for a Big 12 showdown against No. 18 Utah, while Oregon State faces a daunting road trip to No. 4 Oregon in the annual Civil War rivalry. The Beavers are 0-3 for the first time since 2011 and have lost 18 straight road games against ranked opponents.