There are games you put on the highlight reel, and there are games where you grab the win, get on the plane and try not to think too much about what just happened.

Texas Tech’s 35-24 victory over Oregon State belongs firmly in the second category.

The No. 13 Red Raiders went to Corvallis as a massive favorite and found themselves trailing 24-21 in the fourth quarter against an Oregon State team that entered the night 0-1. Instead of cruising to another comfortable victory, Tech spent most of Saturday night fighting for its life.

Still, give the Red Raiders credit for one thing: They responded when the game was on the line.

Will Hammond found Coy Eakin for a 32-yard touchdown with 6:31 remaining to put Tech back in front, and the Red Raiders finally pulled away for an 11-point victory. It was Texas Tech’s first non-conference road win since 2017, and winning away from home is never something to dismiss.

But nobody around this program should pretend everything is fine.

If Texas Tech wants to be a legitimate College Football Playoff contender, what happened against Oregon State has to be viewed as a warning.

The offensive line has to be better

This was supposed to be a game where Texas Tech imposed its will up front.

Instead, the offensive line struggled to consistently create running lanes and had an even tougher time protecting Hammond.

J’Koby Williams was one of the bright spots, rushing for 116 yards and a touchdown, including a 38-yard scoring run in the third quarter. Take away that explosive play, though, and Tech’s rushing attack looked much less impressive.

That is especially concerning considering Oregon State surrendered 228 rushing yards against Houston in its opener.

The pass protection wasn’t much better. Hammond was sacked four times, and right tackle Jacob Ponton had an especially difficult evening, allowing pressure and drawing multiple penalties.

Texas Tech spent the offseason believing its offensive line had been upgraded. Two games into the season, we’re still waiting to see it.

Big 12 defensive fronts aren't going to be nearly as forgiving.

The defense got torched through the air

This might be the biggest concern coming out of Corvallis.

Oregon State piled up 472 yards of offense, including more than 400 through the air. Quarterback Braden Atkinson threw for 399 yards and two touchdowns, while freshman receiver Jesse Legree turned into the most dangerous player on the field.

Legree caught eight passes for an incredible 240 yards and two touchdowns. That's 30 yards per reception.

You can survive that against Oregon State.

Try it against the better teams on Texas Tech’s schedule and see what happens.

The secondary deserves plenty of criticism, but the lack of a consistent pass rush made life even harder. Atkinson attempted 49 passes, yet the Red Raiders managed only two sacks.

That isn't enough.

Texas Tech desperately needs Trey White back in the lineup. The San Diego State transfer has missed the first two games, and Tech needs him to provide the type of edge pressure that was missing Saturday.

This defense doesn't necessarily have to be as dominant as last year's group for Tech to have a special season. It does, however, have to be significantly better than what we saw in Corvallis.

Let Hammond play

Then there is offensive coordinator Mack Leftwich.

For the second consecutive week, the Texas Tech offense felt far too conservative.

There were too many first- and second-down runs into crowded boxes and not enough attempts to make Oregon State defend the entire field. When it became obvious the offensive line wasn't consistently moving defenders off the ball, Tech kept trying anyway.

Meanwhile, Hammond quietly put together an efficient night.

He completed 20 of 27 passes for 189 yards and a touchdown. When Texas Tech absolutely needed a play in the fourth quarter, Hammond delivered the biggest one of the night with the 32-yard strike to Eakin.

So why not put more on his shoulders?

Hammond doesn't need to throw 50 times per game, but Texas Tech has enough talent at receiver to be more aggressive. The Red Raiders should be making defenses uncomfortable vertically instead of allowing them to crowd the line of scrimmage and dare Tech to run into loaded boxes.

At some point, Leftwich has to take the training wheels off.

A win is a win, but the standard is higher now

There is an optimistic way to look at Saturday.

Texas Tech went on the road, faced adversity, fell behind in the fourth quarter and still found a way to win. Hammond made a huge throw. Eakin made a huge catch. Williams topped 100 yards. The Red Raiders scored the final 14 points and walked out of Corvallis 2-0.

Those things matter.

But expectations have changed in Lubbock.

This isn't a program hoping to sneak into a bowl game anymore. Texas Tech entered the weekend ranked No. 13 in the country with legitimate expectations of competing for the Big 12 championship and reaching the College Football Playoff.

Teams with those ambitions can't routinely play down to overmatched opponents.

The good news is that Tech has time to fix these problems.

The bad news?

Not much time.

Houston comes to Galaxy Stadium on Friday night for the Big 12 opener. The Cougars already handled this same Oregon State team by 13 points, and conference play isn't going to provide many opportunities for Texas Tech to sleepwalk through three quarters and figure things out in the fourth.

Texas Tech is 2-0. That's the part fans should enjoy.

But after what happened in Corvallis, the Red Raiders also know something else.

They have a long way to go before they look like the team everyone expected them to be.