Texas Tech defeated West Virginia 53–48 in Lubbock in a Big 12 game that began Saturday, November 7, and finished early Sunday, November 8. Thomas Castellanos threw five touchdown passes, with his final scoring connection putting the Red Raiders ahead with 2:44 remaining.
The victory lifted Texas Tech to 8–1 overall and 5–1 in conference play. West Virginia fell to 5–4 and 2–4. The Red Raiders entered the matchup ranked No. 15 in the College Football Playoff rankings.
The official quarter-by-quarter scoring shows how sharply the game changed direction. West Virginia led 17–14 after the first quarter, but Texas Tech scored 27 points in the second while allowing 10. That gave the home team a 41–27 halftime advantage.
West Virginia answered with all 21 points scored in the third quarter, turning that deficit into a 48–41 lead. Texas Tech then scored the fourth quarter’s only 12 points to complete the comeback.
Kenny Johnson caught the decisive five-yard touchdown pass. A fourth-down completion to Micah Hudson for 26 yards helped extend that possession, a nine-play, 69-yard drive. A late safety widened Texas Tech’s lead to five points.
Castellanos finished with 362 passing yards and 102 rushing yards. The teams combined for 1,220 yards of offense.
West Virginia quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. completed 11 of 16 passes for 303 yards without an interception and added three rushing touchdowns. Cam Cook supplied 149 rushing yards, while TaRon Francis had three catches for 169 yards. The Mountaineers’ production could not overcome their scoreless final quarter.
Sources: NCAA — West Virginia–Texas Tech final score and box score: https://www.ncaa.com/game/6640721 Associated Press — November 8 final game report, via Yahoo Sports: https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/thomas-castellanos-throws-5-td-063148148.html