EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first of several bowl games that the staff at ETBLITZ.COM will cover this bowl season; look for photos by new ETBLITZ photographer EMMA WILEY to be added to this story on Sunday.
By CLAYTON FLETCHER
SHREVEPORT, La. – Behren Morton had a day at the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl Saturday night, as he threw three touchdowns for Texas Tech in a 34-14 win over the Cal Golden Bears.
Morton threw for 256 yards and the three scores, leading the Red Raiders to a 7-6 final record on the year. Morton had some help from his No. 1 running back, Tahj Brooks, who ran the ball for 98 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries in the winning effort.
Coy Eakin also had a good game for the Red Raiders, with seven receptions for 106 yards and a touchdown.
“In West Texas, we play defense,” Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire said afterward, and he was right: the Raiders only allowed two scores and 69 rushing yards in the victory.
Cal fell to 6-7 with the loss.
It wasn’t due to a lack of effort by their freshman quarterback, Fernando Mendoza, who had a solid game: 22-for-33 for 284 yards and a touchdown. But turnovers hurt the Bears in the end: four of them total, and not being able to run the ball on the Raiders’ defense didn’t help.
Tech didn’t start the game off on a good note: a fumble on the opening kickoff led to a 25-yard touchdown pass from Mendoza to Monroe Young let the Bears get off to a fast start and put the Raiders on the defensive early.
After an exchange of punts, Tech tied the game when Morton connected on a 27-yard pass to Eakin for a score.
Cal answered back with a 74-yard drive, capped off with a touchdown run by sophomore running back Jaydn Ott to take a 14-7 lead with 2:38 left in the first quarter.
But in the second quarter, Tech would tie things up again at 14 with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Morton to junior wideout Mason Tharp, capping a 65-yard drive.
The Red Raiders wouldn’t look back from there, adding another touchdown pass from Morton to senior wide receiver Loic Fouonji, giving Tech a 21-14 lead with 9:49 left in the half.
Cal, who moved the ball well in the first quarter, couldn’t keep it going in the second, punting on its next four possessions, allowing the Red Raiders to kick a 25-yard field goal going in to the half, adding to their lead, 24-14.
Cal would get the kick to start the second half, and maybe answer the call but that was upended on a tipped ball that was picked off by Tech junior linebacker Jacob Rodrigues.
The Bears would force Tech to punt. On its next drive, though, Cal chose to go for a fourth-down conversion and failed, allowing the Raiders to have great field position – and a 15-yard drive that ended with a 7-yard touchdown run by Brooks, extending the Red Raiders’ lead to 31-14.
Cal really could not get its offense going, and the teams exchanged turnovers – they fumbled the ball to Tech, Tech threw an interceptions, and then the Bears returned the favor by throwing an interception of their own.
That would lead to yet another Texas Tech score, this one a field goal to make it 34-14 Tech, with just over five minutes left in the game, the eventual final score.
Xavier White had a big punt return for the Red Raiders to set up Brooks’ final score, and also had 61 receiving yards on five catches. Brady Boyd also had three catches for 37 yards.
The game had 33,071 in attendance.
It was the 47th Independence Bowl, and included the Coca-Cola Fan Fest at no cost to fans prior to the game, featuring all kinds of food and drink, games, games and inflatable activities for kids, and music by DJ Hotboy Yoshi, the Leif Shively Band and Hidden Tracks.
The Independence Bowl has had a few sponsors since it began in 1976, but it’s the 11 th-oldest bowl game. Radiance Techologies extended its deal with the Independence Bowl, and they’ll remain the sponsor through the 2025 season.
According to the Independence Bowl Foundation, the mission of the Independence Bowl is to attract and provide quality, nationally recognized football competition oriented to the Ark-La-Tex region.
(Mitch Lucas contributed to this story)
