The Texas Tech defense capitalized on five turnovers and six sacks to secure the Spring Series crown with a 60-33 victory during “Saturday Night Lights” at Jones AT&T Stadium.
 
Talor Nunez helped lead the way for the defense as he finished tied for the team high with three tackles, two of which were sacks. He landed the defense eight points alone during the redzone portion of the scrimmage as he had a sack (four points) and an interception (four points) during that time.
 
Nunez’ interception was one of four for the Red Raider defense as Octavious Morgan, Christian Taylor and Tyree Key all had picks. Jamile Johnson also recovered a fumble late in the game off a Tony Jones tackle over the middle, giving the defense three points under the modified scoring system.
 
In addition to Nunez, Kaleb Hill, Payton Hendrix and D’Vonta Hinton all had three tackles for the defense, which won the Spring Series following strong showings in both Midland (March 25) and Lubbock. The offense won the Spring Game that was held last weekend at The Star in Frisco.
 
Nic Shimonek finished 11-of-20 for 179 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Red Raider offense. He led the offense to a touchdown on the night’s opening drive as he found Dylan Cantrell on a 25-yard strike in the endzone. Cantrell closed the night tied with the team high in receptions as he caught four passes for 47 yards.
 
Keke Coutee helped power the Red Raider passing attack as he finished with four catches for 105 yards, the majority of which came on a bullet over the middle from Shimonek that Coutee stretched into a 79-yard touchdown.
 
Tech’s other two touchdown passes came from freshman Xavier Martin, who was 6-of-9 overall for 88 yards and two touchdowns. He found both Antoine Wesley and Caleb Woodward for touchdowns during the redzone portion of the second half.
 
“Saturday Night Lights” marked practice No. 13 for Tech this spring, but, most importantly, served as an opportunity for Lubbock residents to see the Red Raiders in action. In addition to the scrimmage, Tech held a postgame fireworks show as well as an hour-long autograph session for its hometown fans.
 
The Red Raiders close spring practices next week with their final two workouts which are slated for Tuesday and Thursday at the Football Training Facility. Tech fans wishing to purchase season tickets can still do so by going online or by contacting the Tech Ticket Office at 806-742-TECH during normal business hours.
 
(COURTESY TEXAS TECH SPORTS INFORMATION DEPARTMENT)