The Texas Tech football team had the second most made field goals in the FBS last season and tied for the eighth most touchdowns. The Red Raiders would like a little less of the former and a little more of the latter, although they started the 2026 season by continuing the pattern.
In a 33-10 victory over visiting Abilene Christian on Saturday, Sept. 5, Tech scored touchdowns on its first two possessions. Soon after, Stone Harrington made field goals on four consecutive series, not counting a one-play possession as time ran out in the half.
On the series in which the Red Raiders settled for field goals, they had first downs at the ACU 7- , 13- , 13- and 24-yard lines. They subsequently gained 3 yards, 3 yards, minus-2 and minus-2 before sending
in the field-goal unit.
"We've got to execute better," offensive coordinator Mack Leftwich said on Monday, Sept. 7. "Got to have a better plan on first and second down. Going into it, the whole focus was trying to stay out of third-and-long.
"The drives that we weren't successful down there, it was third-and-12, third-and-12 and third-and-13, so I've got to call better plays on first and second down to put us in good situations where we're not down there in those third-and-extra long opportunities."
Last year, kicker Upton Bellenfant went 6 for 6 on field goals and Harrington made 22 of 28 and was a semifinalist for the Groza Award that goes annually to the nation's top kicker. He's off to a 4-for-4 start now.
Leftwich second-guessed himself on a couple of play calls in the red zone for possibly being too aggressive in trying to hit a big play.
"Just doing stuff we're good at and letting our guys go execute and have easy answers on the play is kind of what we've talked about doing," he said.
Tech is trying to get newly arrived quarterback Thomas Castellanos up to speed in learning the offense. Being a dual-threat QB with nearly 2,000 career rushing yards and 24 rushing touchdowns, Castellanos is an option the staff seemingly would like to break into the lineup in short-yardage and red-zone scenarios. On his lone play in the opener, Castellanos handed off to J'Koby Williams, who went in for a touchdown.
Tech coach Joey McGuire said last week Castellanos could have a good handle on the offense by this week. Tech plays Oregon State (0-1) at 6:30 p.m. CDT Saturday, Sept. 12, in Corvallis, Oregon.
Asked if Castellanos might see a series here or there, McGuire said, "I think there is a good chance because I think he's feeling better and better, and now he gets another week to work it, and so I think we'll see him.
"He had more of a package the other night. A lot of it was in the low red zone, and a lot of times where we got stuck was not in the low red. But I do think the more and more he gets comfortable, we'll see him at different times of the game."
Will Hammond, making his fourth career start and first since last year's season-ending knee surgery, threw for 298 yards on 26-for-33 passing. Leftwich liked Hammond's composure and efficiency, completing his first 14 passes.
"I thought for a first start coming off the injury, the whole off-season, he wasn't too juiced," Leftwich said. "There was a calmness about him."
Tech finished with 471 yards, including 173 on the ground.
Leftwich commended the offensive line's pass protection.
"There was one rep where we cut somebody loose and Will had pressure," Leftwich said, "but other than that, I thought they gave Will good pockets pretty much the whole game. We ended up not having any sacks on over 30 drop-back attempts, so that's a good day for them in pass pro. To ACU's credit, they stunted and moved the defensive line almost every play, really, and so I thought our O-line handled that really well, better than they have in the past."
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Mack Leftwich, Texas Tech football hunt for key to open up red zone
