LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — Tahj Brooks ran for a season-high 188 yards and three touchdowns in the final home game for Texas Tech’s leading rusher and the Red Raiders beat West Virginia 52-15 on Saturday. .
Texas Tech (8-4, 6-3 Big 12) kept its faint hopes of a Big 12 championship game alive by winning at least eight regular-season games for the first time since 2009 under the late Mike Leach.
Garrett Greene threw an interception and lost a fumble on a Terrell Tilmon strip sack in the final three minutes of the first half as the Mountaineers (6-6, 5-4) raised more questions about coach Neal Brown’s future by falling behind 35-3 at halftime.
Behren Morton threw for 359 yards and two touchdowns, including a 31-yarder to Caleb Douglas, to put Texas Tech ahead 42-3 early in the second half. Josh Kelly had 150 yards receiving.
Red Raiders coach Joey McGuire, who will have his third winning record in three seasons, called timeout with 5:57 remaining and his team leading 45-15, knocking Brooks out of the game. Brooks was mobbed by teammates as the crowd gave him a standing ovation.
Brooks rushed for at least 100 yards in all 11 regular season games he played in, breaking the school single-season record of 10 he shared with Byron Hanspard and Bam Morris.
Brooks pushed his career total to 4,557 yards in his first home game since surpassing Hanspard’s 1996 school record of 4,219 yards two weeks ago at Jones AT&T Stadium.
Two of Brooks’ TDs came on 2-yard runs off direct snaps and the other was a 37-yarder when he ran into a cut but stayed on his feet and bounced off defensive back Ty French. Brooks has 17 TDs this season and 45 for his career. Brooks set up one of his short TDs with a 30-yard catch.
Jahiem White ran for 124 yards with a 21-yard touchdown for West Virginia, and Greene had a 15-yarder to Rodney Gallagher III. Greene threw two picks.
Food to go
West Virginia: A perfect season on the road in the Big 12 ended with a blow. The Mountaineers were 3-0 in conference play and scored 29 second-quarter points, followed by another TD just 2:12 into the third.
Texas Tech: Tight end Jalin Conyers, one of Brooks’ fellow seniors playing his final home game, made up for a dropped pass in the end zone with a juggling, diving 18-yard run to set up Morton’s 1-yard scoring toss. Mason Tharp. Conyers, an Arizona State transfer, also had a 2-point conversion on a swinging goal play off a PAT drive.
Next
Both teams are eligible for bowl games. At the end of the game, Texas Tech’s fate for a spot in the Big 12 title game was still up in the air.
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Associated Press