Texas Tech Gets First Big 12 Title With 34-7 Win Over BYU
Behind a dominant defensive effort and a balanced offensive attack, the Texas Tech Red Raiders captured their first Big 12 Championship Saturday with a 34-7 victory over BYU at AT&T Stadium.
Junior linebacker Ben Roberts was named the game’s Most Outstanding Player after leading a relentless defense that limited the Cougars to just 176 total yards.
Texas Tech (12-1) controlled the game from start to finish, scoring on four of its first five drives and never letting BYU find a rhythm. The win likely secures the Red Raiders a first-round bye in the newly expanded College Football Playoff, marking another historic milestone in head coach Joey McGuire’s tenure.
Quarterback Behren Morton threw for 215 yards and two touchdowns, efficiently guiding an offense that blended tempo and precision.
J’Koby Williams led the Red Raiders with 80 yards rushing on 15 attempts.
Running back Cameron Dickey added 72 rushing yards and a score, while wide receiver Coy Eakin caught three passes for 66 yards and two touchdowns.
Kicker Stone Harrington made four field goals on the day, tied for second-most in Big 12 Championship history.
“Everything we’ve built toward came together today,” McGuire said. “This team never backed down, and today they showed what Texas Tech football is all about.”
BYU (9-4) struggled offensively behind true freshman quarterback Bear Bachmeier, who was under pressure throughout the afternoon. Bachmeier completed just 12 of 26 passes for 119 yards and a late touchdown, while the Cougars’ ground game was held to only 57 yards.
Roberts anchored Texas Tech’s defense with five tackles and two interceptions.
Fellow linebacker Jacob Rodriguez added 13 tackles and eclipsed 300 tackles (306) for his career. This was his 14th career game with 10+ tackles.
LB John Curry added 10 tackles and a forced fumble in the 4th quarter.
When the final seconds ticked away, McGuire was drenched in Gatorade as players celebrated the program’s first conference crown in the Big 12 era.
“This is just the beginning,” Morton said. “We’ve got bigger goals ahead.”
The Red Raiders will await their College Football Playoff semifinal destination, but in Arlington, their long-awaited breakthrough was already complete.
Texas Tech Notes
Texas Tech’s 12 wins sets a program record for wins in a single season.
Joey McGuire improves his career record to 16-4 in games Texas Tech has played in the month of November and later.
Texas Tech is 11-0 when Behren Morton starts. Morton is also the first Red Raiders quarterback since Kliff Kingsbury (2002) to lead the Big 12 Conference in passer rating.
This is the Red Raiders first conference title since they shared the Southwest Conference championship in 1994.
This is their first outright title since claiming the Border Conference in 1955.
Big 12 Championship Attendance
The game’s attendance was 85,519, the highest in Big 12 Championship history, topping the 84,523 for Texas-Oklahoma State in 2023.
The game was also the fifth highest attendance for a college football game at AT&T Stadium with the highest being the 2012 Cowboys Classic featuring Alabama defeating Michigan 41-14 before a crowd of 90,413.
