Red Raiders win a wild one over WVU | Texas Tech football report card

Thomas Castellanos threw for career highs of 362 yards and 5 touchdowns, the last a go-ahead 5-yard throw to Kenny Johnson with 2:44 left as the Texas Tech football team rallied to beat West Virginia 53-48 on Saturday, Nov. 7, at Galaxy Stadium . Johnson's second TD catch of the game capped a 9-play, 69-yard drive kept alive by a leaping fourth-down grab by Micah Hudson four plays earlier. Castellanos threw the ball into traffic over the middle — for Terrance Carter Jr., it appeared — and the 26-yard catch moved the ball to the WVU 26-yard line. After Johnson's TD put Tech ahead 51-48, West Virginia turned the ball over on downs with 1:55 to go, and then quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. was tackled for a safety with 1:24 left. Edge defender Trey White made the play on both. More: WR Coy Eakin leaves Texas Tech football game vs. West Virginia More: Texas Tech football RB Cameron Dickey aggravates ankle injury Tech (8-1, 5-1 in the Big 12) set a school record with its 14th home victory in a row. The Red Raiders gained sole possession of second place in the Big 12, one game behind Utah (9-0, 6-0). J'Koby Williams rushed for 160 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries. Castellanos, making his second start in a row over Will Hammond, finished with 102 yards on 23 attempts. Castellanos' other scoring passes went for 30 and 29 yards to Carter, for 1 yard to Jett Carpenter and for 38 yards to Johnson. West Virginia (5-4, 2-4) piled up 582 yards total offense, but the Mountaineers failed in Rich Rodriguez's first chance to get his 200th career coaching victory. Hawkins completed 11 of 16 passes for 303 yards. He ran 19 times for 88 yards and 3 touchdowns, giving him 19 for the season. The two teams combined for 1,220 yards of total offense. At halftime, they'd combined for 892 yards and Castellanos had 4 TD passes, tying the career high he set while playing for Boston College against Duquesne in a September 2024 game. Here is the rapid-reaction report card. Offense: B Red Raiders put up a season high in total offense, but needed the game-winning drive to atone for a four-series stretch after halftime that all ended in punts. Williams topped 100 yards rushing for the third time in four games. Defense: F West Virginia's 582 yards were a multi-year high against a Shiel Wood defense. Busts and big plays were an issue as Tech allowed seven plays, including five passes, longer than 30 yards. Special Teams: F Red Raiders yielded a 75-yard punt return that set up a go-ahead touchdown in the third quarter. Kenny Johnson punt returns being erased by penalties is a recurring problem. Punter Will Karoll averaged 42.2 yards, but hasn't seemed the same in the second half of the season. Coaching: C The Tech defense didn't look well-coached for about three quarters, and the offense conked out for a while. The staff rallied both units when the game was on the line. Overall: B The Red Raiders had to have this one to keep their Big 12 championship and College Football Playoff hopes on solid footing. They'll be under just as much pressure next week, though, facing Oklahoma State's prolific passing offense on the road.