There was plenty of chatter about whether the Texas Tech football team was ready to contend with a high-powered Oklahoma State offense.Turns out the Red Raiders (9-1, 6-1) were more than ready, holding off a modest Cowboys run and nearly pitching a second-half shutout in the 52-27 victory in Boone Pickens Stadium.There’s plenty to digest from a game that went so against the assumption, but here’s the immediate takeaways.Texas Tech football defense answers the biggest questionsAll week long it was asked of the Texas Tech defense whether they were even good. Was losing all those NFL players the death knell to the group? Coming off three straight off performances from the unit, it was a fair question.Well, Shiel Wood’s group answered it with aplomb. Drew Mestemaker’s total yards will look solid after the game, but it was a highly inefficient game from the Oklahoma State quarterback. Texas Tech harassed him all night, forced him into bad positions and got a pair of interceptions from the linebackers.While Mestemaker may have been banged up in the game, that was the doing of A.J. Holmes Jr’s sack in the first quarter. They get credit for that too as it impacted the entire game. Mestemaker entered the game with eight straight games of 300 yards or more and checked out midway through the fourth with just 277.Welcome back, Malcolm SimmonsJoey McGuire has been wanting to get Malcolm Simmons the ball more. The problem? The Auburn transfer’s been hurt the last few weeks.Simmons made his return to the field this week and it went incredibly well. He took the opening kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown and brought in a 45-yard touchdown reception. Two touches, two touchdowns.Red Raiders pass their biggest test, await quarterback newsThomas Castellanos left the game with what the ESPN broadcast reported appeared to be a rib injury after taking a major hit in the fourth quarter. Texas Tech had put the game out of reach at that point and Will Hammond checked in to finish things out.Two games stand between the Red Raiders and a return to the Big 12 Conference championship game. Next up is a trip to Waco to face Baylor.This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech football pummels Drew Mestemaker, Oklahoma State | Takeaways
