Say it again: Give Brooks the ball

If Texas Tech’s slow football start is to be salvaged, it just might come from the unlikeliest of players. Nothing against Tahj Brooks, but he’s a running back.  Those who carry the football at Tech have been supporting actors at best for the last few seasons.

And by “last few seasons,” I mean the entire 21st century.

Tech is the home of Mike Leach and the explosion of the Air Raid, of Patrick Mahomes, of Kliff Kingsbury as a coach and first as a quarterback with his 17 NCAA passing records, of Graham Harrell and his 15,793 passing yards and 134 touchdowns.

The Red Raiders’ DNA for nearly 25 years has been throwing the football. Early and often. It’s been Tech’s identity through good times and bad. Running the football? Ah, that’s Big 10 stuff. It’s boring. This isn’t the 1980s. Is winning even worth it if it means a reliance on the running game to move the chains?

Yes, it is. With the Red Raiders’ season approaching DefCon 4 status after a 1-3 start, offensive coordinator Zach Kittley, probably with a sincere nudge from head coach Joey McGuire, gained some running game religion Saturday against Houston.

The Raiders won, 49-28, after trailing three different times in the first half.  Special teams were key in the first half with a 100-yard kickoff return from Drae McCray and a blocked punt by Loic Fouonji who then scooped and scored from 33 yards.

But it was Brooks and Cam’Ron Valdez who did the dirty work behind an offensive line that seems better at run blocking than pass protection. Both had 106 yards rushing – Brooks on 22 carries and the explosive but oft-injured Valdez on only five.

The Raiders had 239 yards on the ground to just 161 in the air. You can count on one hand over the years the times Tech has beaten a Big 12 opponent with 78 more rushing yards. Running backs ran 33 times to just 22 passes.

“It’s hard to say there’s a better offensive player in our uniform than Tahj Brooks,” McGuire said Monday. “You have to ride the hot hand. And I’m excited for what Cam’Ron brings.”

There have been pleas to use the 5-foot-10, 230-pound senior more since the failed opener at Wyoming when quarterback Tyler Shough had four more carries than the experienced running back. In a 38-30 loss to Oregon, Brooks averaged 10.1 yards an attempt, but only had seven carries.

At West Virginia, just two carries in the first half. Two. Then after what had to be a serious halftime conversation from McGuire to Kittley, Brooks returned with 23 carries in the second half to finish with 149 yards.

Kittley is an Air Raid disciple and just 32 years old. A Tech graduate assistant under Kingsbury, he was offensive coordinator at Houston Baptist and Western Kentucky before returning home with McGuire in 2022.

He’s a bright mind, but still learning on the job in a Power 5 conference. Sometimes coordinators of wide-open attacks get too stubborn with the throwing game as if moving away from it for periods of time is almost admitting defeat.

“The Houston game had a lot to do with our offensive line,” McGuire said. “Caleb Rogers (tackle) said if you want to settle the game down, let us do it. We were much more efficient on third down because we were better on first and second down, and that was from running the football.”

In just his fifth start, quarterback Behren Morton, with a tender shoulder joint, threw only 22 times, which is usually about the first half for most Tech quarterbacks. He completed 14 for 161 yards, but it worked. Defenses have to be a little more run conscious.

With this offensive personnel, a sweet spot is probably 25 to 30 pass attempts. Getting to 45 to 50 doesn’t bode well.  If that sounds like heresy at Tech, so be it.

Brooks is fourth in the Big 12 in rushing with 523 yards and averages 6.2 yards an attempt. Feed him. He’s on pace for 1,255 yards, the most at Tech in eight years.

The Raiders go to Baylor on Saturday to face a team that has identical 2-3 overall and 1-1 conference records. One of these two is going to feel much better about the rest of the season on Sunday. Baylor is coming off a stirring 36-35 win over Central Florida when the Bears’ comeback from down 35-7 was the largest in school history.

Baylor gave Tech its most decisive loss a year ago, 45-17, in Lubbock. The Bears have won the last two thrillers in Waco. In 2021, a 53-yard field goal attempt on the last play was just wide in a 27-24 loss. In 2019, the Bears got a gift in the first overtime when a fumbled snap was ruled a false start and Baylor ultimately prevailed in two overtimes, 33-30.

Tech has lost three games by one score to teams that are a combined 13-2.  Now what?

“The win was time to take a deep breath,” McGuire said, “because I expect a lot out of this group. We have not played well on the road. It’s time to be the team we think we are and do it on the road.”

The Raiders won’t do it without an effective and busy Tahj Brooks.