3 takeaways from Utah’s 24-point home loss to Texas Tech

What was hyped to be one of the best Big 12 games of the season ended up being a 24-point blowout.

Texas Tech made its first trip to Rice-Eccles Stadium one to remember, as the No. 17 Red Raiders beat No. 16 Utah 34-10 on Saturday.

Here are three takeaways from the game.

Utah’s offense goes MIA

A lot had been made of the Utes’ offense under first-year coordinator Jason Beck over the first three weeks, as Utah, behind quarterback Devon Dampier, had displayed an ability to control the clock and efficiently wear down the opposition.

That didn’t happen Saturday, as Texas Tech’s defense showed it might be one of the best in the Big 12.

The Red Raiders never let Utah’s offense get into a rhythm, as the Utes finished with 263 yards of total offense. Outside of a quick touchdown drive in the fourth quarter that briefly gave Utah some hope, Texas Tech held the Utes to 4 of 14 on third down and forced four turnovers (more on that in a minute).

The Utes’ lack of a downfield passing threat caught up to them against an opponent more on their talent level, and the Red Raiders kept the Utah rushing attack, which had been averaging 290 yards per game, to just 101.

Dampier struggled, completing 25 of 38 passes for 162 yards and two interceptions. His timing was off the majority of the day, and the dual-threat QB had just 27 yards on the ground as Texas Tech bottled up Utah’s offense.

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Texas Tech dominated, even when it turned to a backup to lead the offense

The game was a defensive battle for three quarters, until Texas Tech started to pull away in the fourth quarter behind a quarterback that began the game on the sideline.

While Behren Morton has been viewed as one of the top returning Big 12 signal callers, the Utes held him in check for two-plus quarters and intercepted the senior twice, including once in the end zone when Jackson Bennee ripped the ball away from receiver Coy Eakin.

On Texas Tech’s first drive of the third quarter though, Morton took a hard hit from Utah linebacker Johnathan Hall and was replaced by Will Hammond.

The redshirt freshman from Austin, Texas, ended up with the better day, while leading Texas Tech to scores on his final four drives, including three straight touchdowns to put the game away.

Hammond added an element of a running game that Morton doesn’t bring, and he showed excellent touch on the deep ball, something that helped Texas Tech pull away.

Hammond finished the game completing 13 of 16 passes for 169 yards and two touchdowns, while also rushing for 61 yards on eight carries.

After Utah cut its deficit to 13-10 with 10:22 to play, Hammond’s 32-yard run sparked the Red Raiders’ next drive, and after his first touchdown pass — a 24-yarder to Terrance Carter Jr. — Texas Tech had the game wrapped up.

Turnovers cost the Utes, too

Through the first three weeks of the season, Utah had turned the ball over just once, on a fumble in the red zone against Wyoming.

On Saturday, though, the Utes couldn’t get a handle on the pigskin.

Texas Tech forced back-to-back fumbles in the first quarter by punching the ball out, and while the Red Raiders never took advantage of those mistakes, those turnovers played a large role in Utah never being able to build any momentum on the offensive side.

Dampier threw his first of two interceptions in the second quarter, and then his second — on a fourth and long in the fourth quarter — led to Texas Tech’s final score.

It was a learning experience for a Utah offense that had played clean ball most of the time for the first three weeks.