Behren Morton passed for 258 yards and three touchdowns in the first half and No. 24 Texas Tech rolled to a 62-14 blowout of visiting Kent State on Saturday afternoon in Lubbock, Texas.
The Red Raiders (2-0) built a 48-0 lead at the half, allowing them to insert their reserves the rest of the way.
Reggie Virgil caught two touchdown passes from Morton and Coy Eakin caught the other. Morton connected with eight different receivers in the first half, completing 18 of 26 attempts.
Adam Hill led the Texas Tech ground attack with 127 rushing yards on 16 carries.
The Red Raiders took the opening kickoff and marched 78 yards in eight plays, taking a 7-0 lead on a 35-yard touchdown pass from Morton to Virgil.
The knee of Kent State punter Jake Stoeckel touched the turf while fielding a low snap and Texas Tech took possession at the Golden Flashes’ 12-yard line. Three plays later, Cameron Dickey scored on a 2-yard run to extend the lead to 14-0.
Texas Tech extended its lead to 21-0 before the halfway point of the first quarter on a 42-yard strike from Morton to Eakin.
Upton Bellenfant booted a 23-yard field goal to stretch the lead to 24-0 with 14:19 left in the opening half.
Kent State stacked up Dickey on two tries from the 1-yard line, but he scored on his third attempt on fourth down to extend the lead to 31-0 with 10:24 still remaining in the first half.
Skyler Gill-Howard then returned an interception 55 yards for a touchdown to make it 38-0.
A fumble recovery by Texas Tech led to a 47-yard field goal by Stone Harrington, and the Red Raiders capped the first-half scoring with a 3-yard touchdown pass from Morton to Virgil with 12 seconds left.
Will Hammond took over at quarterback in the second half and connected with Bryson Jones on a 38-yard touchdown to make it 55-0 with 5:06 left in the third quarter.
Kent State (1-1) got on the scoreboard with 12:11 left in the game on a 10-yard touchdown run by backup quarterback Dru DeShields. The Golden Flashes then recovered a fumble and scored on a 16-yard pass from DeShields to Cade Wolford, cutting it to 55-14 with 10:20 remaining.
Texas Tech answered back with a 13-yard touchdown run by Hammond to make it 62-14 with 6:49 left.
