Bowman 436 Yards Passing in Texas Tech Win Over Montana State

Alan Bowman threw for 436 yards with two touchdowns and ran for another score as Texas Tech won their first game under coach Matt Wells, beating FCS team Montana State 45-10 on Saturday.

The Red Raiders quickly jumped ahead with 11-play touchdown drives on each of their first two possessions. Bowman, who finished 40-of-55 passing, completed his first 12 passes for 123 yards before throwing a ball out of bounds for his first incompletion midway through the second drive.

Texas Tech piled up 691 total yards in its first game with offensive coordinator David Yost. He also came from Utah State where he was Wells, the head coach at his alma mater six seasons before becoming a Power Five coach for the first time.

Utah transfer Armand Shyne ran 11 times for 125 yards, while redshirt freshman SaRodorick Thomas had two of Tech's four rushing touchdowns. Seven different Red Raiders had at least four catches. Xavier White had five catches for 107 yards, including a 45-yard touchdown late that made up for his fumble into the end zone at the end of an earlier 35-yard catch.

Montana State was held to 289 total yards. Redshirt freshman starting quarterback Casey Bauman was 7-of-19 passing for 120 yards, three of his completions going or at least 31 yards.

THE TAKEAWAY
Montana State: The Bobcats, an FCS playoff team last year, are 3-35 against FBS teams. Their last win in such games being 19-10 in 2006 against Colorado, then a Big 12 member. Standout two-way player Troy Andersen exited early in second half, leaving the field on his own after being down briefly. Andersen, an All-Big Sky quarterback last season and now a starting linebacker, had four tackles. On offense, he was 2 for 2 passing for 7 yards, and ran once for no gain.

Texas Tech: A positive start for the Red Raiders, who finished last season with five consecutive losses and a losing record for the third year in a row. Along with the expected solid performance by Bowman and the offense, the new staff's emphasis on defense showed in the opener. Montana State went three-and-out on five of its first six drives, and the only touchdown came on a drive extended by a converting a fake punt for a first down.