The No. 13 Texas Tech Red Raiders football team needed every inch to preserve its unbeaten record Friday night. Conner Weigman’s potential game-tying two-point conversion ended just short of the goal line, allowing the Red Raiders to hold off No. 22 Houston and secure a 28-26 home win at Galaxy Stadium.

The ruling preserved the result. It should not erase the warning.

Texas Tech’s defensive regression raises the panic meter

Texas Tech’s panic meter sits at six out of 10 following its Big 12 opener. The defending Big 12 champion remains undefeated at 3-0 and controls its conference path, but the Red Raiders look far more vulnerable than their record suggests.

Houston exposed that gap by controlling the ball for 33:42 and producing 458 total yards. The Cougars converted 9 of 15 third downs, rushed for 176 yards and ran 15 more plays. They did not resemble an overmatched visitor against the league favorite. They looked one inch away from forcing overtime.

That performance becomes more alarming when paired with the previous week. Oregon State gained 472 yards against Texas Tech, meaning the Red Raiders’ defense has surrendered at least 450 yards in back-to-back games. Last season’s unit did not allow 20 points until mid-October. This year’s defense has already done so twice in three games.

Roster turnover provides context, not immunity. Texas Tech had nine players selected in the NFL Draft, including four defenders among the first 70 picks. Replacing that talent was always going to require time. However, a championship defense cannot repeatedly lose control of the line of scrimmage and struggle to leave the field on third down.

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Texas Tech’s offense cannot afford more slow starts

The offense has not created enough stability to cover those defensive cracks. Will Hammond threw for 257 yards and one touchdown, but the Red Raiders turned the ball over twice. Thomas Castellanos threw an interception on the Red Raiders’ first snap, helping create a 10-0 deficit. Texas Tech managed only one offensive play during the opening 9:30.

There were encouraging responses. WR Kenny Johnson produced 113 receiving yards, J’Koby Williams broke a 29-yard touchdown run and Cameron Dickey capped off the decisive 87-yard drive. Austin Romaine then stopped Weigman on the two-point conversion. Good teams must survive difficult nights, and Texas Tech did exactly that.

Still, survival cannot become its identity. Texas Tech was favored by roughly a touchdown at home but lost the yardage, possession and turnover battles. A reviewed goal-line stop and an onside-kick recovery separated a conference win from possible overtime.

Sam Houston offers Texas Tech a chance to clean up its sloppy execution before the schedule stiffens. The Red Raiders then visit the Colorado Buffaloes in Boulder before hosting the Arizona State Sun Devils in Week 7. Those games will determine whether Houston exposed a temporary weakness or the beginning of a troubling pattern.