Box Score LUBBOCK, Texas --  Art Kaufman did a lot of good for the Northwestern State football program early in his coaching career, but Texas Tech's new defensive coordinator did the Demons no favors Saturday night in the Red Raiders' 44-6 victory in the season opener for both football teams.
 
Kaufman, a Demons' assistant from 1983-87, inherited a Red Raiders defense that ranked last nationally against the run and was generally acknowledged as the key culprit in the first non bowl season for Texas Tech in 18 years.  Saturday night, NSU managed only six first downs and 84 net offensive yards on 49 plays.
 
“I've known Art Kaufman a long, long time and he's a heck of a ball coach,” said Demons' head coach Bradley Dale Peveto. “His defense did a great job tonight. They had great run fits, they pressured the heck out of us, and we couldn't get it going. Give them a ton of credit.”
 
While the Red Raiders were dominant statistically, they piled on 17 fourth-quarter points to change the complexion of the contest.
 
“They won the battle up front, both sides of the ball,” said Peveto.  “But they had to go earn it. We didn't hand it to them, and they didn't just whip us play after play. We didn't make enough winning plays.”
 
Quarterback Brad Henderson echoed his coach's feelings. After Cortez Paige's 49-yard interception return ended Texas Tech's first drive and set NSU up at the Red Raiders' 36, NSU had to settle for a 38-yard field goal, and setting a tone, it went awry, the first time in 13 attempts John Shaughnessy didn't convert a three-pointer.
 
Later, a dropped pass inside the Texas Tech 10 and a sack that prevented Henderson from looping a pass to a wide open receiver inside the 5 proved costly.
 
“We were in position to score a lot more but we did not make the plays. I did not make the plays,” said Henderson.  “We were right there and missed the opportunities that could have given us 3-4 touchdowns and then it's a whole different game. They made plays, we came up short.”
 
Shaughnessy rebounded with field goals of 47 and 46 yards early in the second and fourth quarters.
 
“We didn't play well enough in any phase,” said Peveto. “The one thing we did well was play hard. Obviously we've got to play better. That's a bowl-caliber Big XII Conference team we played, a team that beat the No. 1 team in major college football (Oklahoma) at their place last year.  They struggled in the second half of last season but they looked every bit the part of a top-half Big XII team tonight.”
 
Texas Tech posted 500 total yards, 321 passing including 122 in the fourth quarter by backup Michael Brewer with the Red Raiders expanding a 27-6 lead. The compelling stat, however, was third down conversions. Tech was 10 of 11 in the first half while moving ahead 27-3, and held NSU to a 1 of 6 rate.
 
“Third down was huge tonight. They were outstanding on both sides of the ball getting control of the game by winning third downs,” said Peveto.
 
Northwestern was flagged eight times for 88 yards, with some costly infractions fueling first-half drives by Texas Tech.  The Raiders' first five scoring drives involved 16, 10, 12, 11 and 11 plays in the first three quarters.
 
“We knew they were very, very good offensively. They didn't need the help we gave them with the personal foul penalties that extended their drives in the first half,” said Peveto.
 
“We have a lot to improve on and we'll come home and get to working on winning a game in our stadium next Saturday night,” he said.
 
The Demons host Arkansas-Monticello in Turpin Stadium next Saturday at 6.