Saturday’s Conference Championship Weekend kicked off with the Big 12 Championship Game, a matchup between the BYU Cougars (11-1) and Texas Tech Red Raiders (11-1) that carried significant College Football Playoff implications.
For nearly three quarters, this matchup wasn’t like the last BYU vs Texas Tech meeting on Nov. 8 when the Red Raiders won 29-7. However, with a conference title and positioning in the College Football Playoff at stake, Texas Tech turned it into a route in the final 20 minutes. Let’s dive into the Big 12 Championship Game result with our winners and losers.
Winner: Cameron Dickey, RB, Texas Tech Red Raiders
It wasn’t a big yardage game from Cameron Dickey on Saturday afternoon, but the Red Raiders starting running back came through with some big carries. His longest carry ony in the first three quarters only went for 11 yards, but that came on a touchdown run after a turnover that put Texas Tech up by two scores and forced BYU to play from behind in the final quarter. Dickey also did a good job on early downs, setting up Behren Morton andTexas Tech’s offense for third-and-shorts. In doing so, the Red Raiders went 8-for-18 on third down in the Big 12 Championship Game.
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Loser: Bear Bachmeier, QB, BYU Cougars
It certainly didn’t help BYU’s freshman quarterback that he suffered an ankle injury on the first drive of the Big 12 Championship Game. It really limited his ability to run with the football and also seemed to have a clear effect on his passing. After the Cougars’ 90-yard scoring drive to open the game, in which Bear Bachmeier went 4-for-6 for 38 passing yards, Bachmeier couldn’t get anything going. On BYU’s remaining drives, the freshman signal-caller went 12-for-21 (57.1 percent completion rate) for 77 passing yards (3.7 yards per attempt), 2 interceptions and 1 fumble lost. Two of those turnovers turned into immediate points for Texas Tech. In both of BYU’s losses to Texas Tech this season, Bachmeier had at least 2 turnovers and averaged under 5 yards per attempt with the Cougars offense putting up just 7 points in each contest.
Winner: Ben Roberts, LB, Texas Tech Red Raiders
Late in the third quarter, BYU only trailed 13-7 with a 3rd-and-4 at its 20-yard line. A first down would mean momentum in a close game and a potential opportunity to march down the field for a game-tying score. Ben Roberts changed everything. The junior read Bachmeier’s eyes, reaching his hand up to deflect the pass and then snagging it out of the air with a 9-yard return to BYU’s 11-yard line. On the very next play, Texas Tech found the end zone to make it a two-score game. Then in the fourth quarter, Roberts picked off Bachmeier again and took it 11 yards to BYU’s 31-yard line. Roberts’ big play forced BYU into a pass-heavy attack and he put the Cougars in a hole they could never dig out of after his second interception.
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Loser: BYU Cougars’ Playoff Hopes
Some made the argument heading into the Big 12 Championship Game that the BYU Cougars should make it into the College Football Playoff even if they lost to Texas Tech. No. The Cougars’ resume isn’t bad by any means, but they’ve now lost by 39 combined points to the Red Raiders and finished with single-digit points in both contests. Beating Utah and Arizona aren’t good enough wins to warrant the Cougars being in the playoff, especially with how Bachmeier has looked.
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Winner: Coy Eakin, WR, Texas Tech Red Raiders
Texas native Coy Eakin pulled down a touchdown in his first 3 games this season and then struck pay dirt for the fourth time on Oct. 18 against Arizona State. That was the last time he found the end zone coming into today. Against BYU, Eakin provided Texas Tech with a huge spark early by making a leaping grab as he started to fall backward. He kept his feet in and came down in the end zone, putting the Red Raiders up for a lead they’d never surrender. Just for good measure, Eakin made a defender miss on a short catch in the fourth quarter and then strolled in for his second touchdown of the game that put the Red Raiders up by three scores.
Winner: Texas Tech Red Raiders Defense
BYU came into today with a lot of confidence that it would fare much better versus the Red Raiders defense than it did in the last meeting (7 points and 255 total yards). Early on, the Cougars seemed to be right. They kicked things off with a 14-play, 90-yard touchdown drive to open the scoring in the Big 12 Championship Game. That would be the last points they put up on Saturday. On the remaining 12 drives, the Red Raiders defense allowed just 110 total yards with more takeaways (four) than first downs allowed. Defense has been the driving force for Texas Tech this season and it’s the reason the program is the Big 12 champions.
