College Football Playoff: Texas Tech earns first-round bye after first Big 12 title

Hayden Victoria

College Football Playoff: Texas Tech earns first-round bye after first Big 12 title  image

Texas Tech earned a first-round bye in the 12-team College Football Playoff after routing BYU 34-7 to claim its first Big 12 football championship in program history. 

The Red Raiders, who entered the weekend ranked in the top four of the CFP rankings, were ranked No. 4 by the committee on Sunday.

Texas Tech earns College Football Playoff first-round bye

The No. 4 Red Raiders overwhelmed No. 11 BYU 34-7 on Saturday at AT&T Stadium, capturing the program’s first Big 12 title and first outright conference championship since the 1950s. The win pushed Tech to 12-1 and capped a season in which all 12 victories came by at least 20 points, a level of dominance matched in the modern era only by recent national champions.​

Quarterback Behren Morton threw two touchdown passes and directed a balanced attack that gradually broke open a game BYU had briefly led 7-0. Tech’s defense took over after that opening score, forcing four turnovers and holding the Cougars to roughly 200 total yards to turn the Big 12 Championship Game into a one-sided coronation.​

Texas Tech will await the first-round winner to determine who they will play. 

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