The game could not have started much better for Texas Tech. The opening drive was easy, with Morton and Tahj Brooks marching the offense down the field for a touchdown. An interception the next drive led to a Red Raider touchdown in short order.

From there on, things got messy. Texas Tech began to sputter offensively and ASU would regain critical momentum scoring 10 points in a row. But with time winding down in the half, Tech managed a FG to reclaim the initiative, and a back and forth second half ended with Tech on top 30-22.

There were reasons to be happy, most importantly a huge opening conference win. But the ugly was the penalties, 94 yards of penalties with most on the DBs had Joey McGuire fuming. The Red Raiders looked out of control at time, and the offensive line struggled to handle the exotic pressure Arizona State brought. Defensively, while Tech neutralized a strong Sun Devil rushing attack the defensive backs struggled in coverage. With Lux out this figured to be a potential problem, but it was still frustrating to see.

Offensively the playcalling was also sporadic in terms of quality, but ultimately in a few critical moments it felt like Kittley had found some answers. Morton was not as polished as the game against North Texas, which is not shocking considering the pressure he was under. But he was still much more like the quarterback Tech needs him to be.

Overall, it was a great win and one that demonstrated whatever nonsense happened in Pullman this is an upper tier Big 12 team. With another homestand up next, Tech can really make a name for itself in the conference race.