LUBBOCK, Texas — There was no upset this time.
The No. 9 Texas Tech Red Raidersdominated from the opening kickoff and throttled Arizona State 53-25 on Oct. 17 in Big 12 play at Galaxy Stadium. The win avenges a loss to the Sun Devils in Tempe a year ago, when both teams entered the contest ranked in the top 10 nationally.
The first half ended with the host team up 43-10. It marked the most points ASU (3-3, 1-2) has given up in a first half since allowing Nebraska 63 in 1995.
Texas Tech (6-0, 3-0) scored on eight of its nine possessions in the first half, with the only possession it did not score being when it lost a fumble in the first quarter.
The win gave Texas Tech a 4-3 lead in the all-time series, with the home team winning every game.
Takeaways from the game
Bad decisions by all: Texas Tech was already up 7-0, and ASU faced a fourth-and-1 at its own 34. Dillingham opted to go for it. Not only did Boley not get it, but he was dropped for a 1-yard loss. Texas scored two plays later to take a 14-0 lead. Texas Tech scored its first touchdown when Ben Roberts returned a Boley throw 24 yards for a touchdown. It marked the third time he had an interception returned for a touchdown.
ASU started poorly: Not only did the Sun Devils sputter offensively, but there were also procedural issues. There were two delay penalties and a personal foul call against Prayer Young-Blackgoat on a touchback, of all things.
Overpowered at the line of scrimmage: The Red Raiders finished with six sacks. On the other side of the ball, ASU struggled to get any pass rush whatsoever. When it did come with an occasional blitz, defenders in the secondary were exposed, and they got burned, giving up repeated big plays.
Defense, defense, defense: The back end of the defense has been disappointing thus far, and that trend continues. The Sun Devils gave up 502 yards in the game, including 232 passing yards for Will Hammond.
There might be a quarterback battle brewing: Dillingham went to backup quarterback Mikey Keene to start the second half. Keene led an 11-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Reed Harris, to make it 43-17. The drive was aided by two pass interference penalties against the Red Raiders. Keene ended up throwing for 256 yards in his first playing time of the season.
More turnovers: It marked the fourth time in six games that ASU has lost the turnover battle. ASU had two, both Boley interceptions. One was already mentioned. The other came with only 16 seconds left in the second quarter and enabled the Red Raiders to add a field goal on the last play of the first half.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona State benches QB amid blowout loss to Texas Tech