Texas Tech made it look easy at the Jones on Saturday, dominating UTEP 69-20 to improve to 2-0 on the year.

All things considered, this performance was equally as satisfying for Tech faithful as last week's performance was utterly frustrating.

From an offensive perspective, the following stands out:

Patrick Mahomes shined again at quarterback (18-33/361/4TDs) before the game got out of hand and Davis Webb took the reigns of the offense.

Jakeem Grant, fresh off earning Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week honors, erupted for 141 yards and a touchdown on seven completions, and Deandre Washington made an impact rushing for 138 yards and a score with his 12 carries.

Basically, anything the Red Raiders wanted to accomplish offensively they did, and with relative ease.

However, it shouldn't be the gaudy offensive statistics Tech put up against UTEP that die-hard fans need to be most enthused about on this particular day. It's the capable defense.

It's something Tech wasn't able to boast last year en route to an astoundingly disappointing 4-8 season. The inability to stop the run allowed teams like next week's opponent Arkansas to dominate games by holding the ball and keeping Tech's offense off of the field.

Now, I'm not going to label this year's defense as world beaters by any stretch. Even today they were dominated in time of possession (40:15 to 19:45) and exposed by some big plays -- most notably, a 91-yard touchdown run by Aaron Jones in the second quarter.

But, they did only allow 20 points; they bent; but didn't break.

Throwing time of possession out the window, if Tech can consistently find a way to get the ball back without the opponent scoring as a result of their drive, we know the offense can score points.

This is what defines a capable defense. This is what Tech needs to have to be successful in 2015 and this is exactly what Tech displayed on Saturday.

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