Welcome to the Extra Points, our weekly college wrap-up at Dave Campbell’s Texas Football. This is your one stop to quickly get up to date with all the most important FBS happenings in the state from Week 7.

FORT WORTH -- Texas Tech proved once and for all that this season is going to be different.

Tech had its work cut out in a Thursday night, nationally-televised tilt. The Red Raiders faced off against TCU, a team that had not lost at Amon Carter Stadium since December 2016. They also were without starting quarterback Alan Bowman and top receiver T.J. Vasher.

But to understand what exactly happened in a 17-14 – really! – win over TCU, we just have to fast forward to the final play.

With just a minute remaining, the Red Raiders forced 4th-and-1 at the TCU 47-yard line. Getting a stop would end the game. But on the other end, TCU quarterback Shawn Robinson ranks as one of the elite short-yardage runners in college football. The Horned Frogs run the ball well overall. Their receivers rank among the best in the conference.

But thanks to watching film, the defensive staff felt confident that TCU was likely to throw it. TCU lined up in base shotgun formation, which Tech countered with a 3-3-5 nickel defense. It’s a relatively safe coverage that still allows some creativity

Robinson dropped back to pass, but strongside linebacker Kolin Hill immediately blitzed and forced him left. Robinson’s athleticism was enough to turn around and reverse field back right. However, the pursuit continued and, almost by fate, the ball flew out of his hand and into the waiting arms of defensive back Adrian Frye.

“We knew they were going to throw it,” linebacker Jordyn Brooks said. “We knew he was going to scramble around, so we had guys come up the edge and get as much pressure as we could.”

It was a perfect play call that ended the game.

Robinson’s mistake decided the game. It doesn’t happen without the right defensive play call, fantastic coverage to keep the receivers occupied and resilient effort from the front seven to keep Robinson uncomfortable for a full 15-second play. That takes talent, effort and execution all at once.

“I feel like as a defense, we are a lot closer than we have been,” Hill said. “Our relationships are a lot closer. It’s easier to communicate on the field and everybody executes at a high level. You can trust everybody out there.”

Remember, Texas Tech posted the worst defensive season in college football history just three short years ago. On this same field, TCU scored 82 points and ran out of the season’s supply of fireworks thanks to the Red Raider defense. Finally, in his fourth season, Texas Tech defensive coordinator David Gibbs’ plan is starting to come together.

On the other end, this TCU stretch is concerning. The Horned Frogs have now lost three of their last four games. The one win – a 17-14 edging of Iowa State at home – wasn’t exactly impressive. Suddenly, the Horned Frogs shift from Big 12 title contender to perhaps fighting for bowl eligibility.

Robinson’s turnover issues have not gone away. The sophomore has turned over the ball 12 times in the last five games on his own. There’s only one Power Five team that has turned it over more times than TCU, and you don’t want to hear who. Sorry TCU fans, it’s Rutgers.

Games at home against Oklahoma and on the road against West Virginia are likely losses. Matchups with Baylor, Oklahoma State and Kansas State feel more like 50-50 propositions than the surefire wins they seemed to be a few weeks ago. With three losses already in the record books, the margin for error in Fort Worth is razor thin.

UNT boasts complete team win

DENTON -- North Texas didn’t exactly bring its best on Saturday for my first game day trip to Apogee Stadium. The weather was drab, the crowd was sparse and UNT’s trademark offense struggled to find rhythm against arguably the best defense in Conference USA.

But in a funny way, UNT’s ugly 30-7 win over Southern Miss has me feeling better about the program than ever. WIth quarterback Mason Fine consistently under pressure from Southern Miss’ top 10 pass defense, the rest of the roster stepped up in a big way.

North Texas’ defense showed flashes of elite play, the type that allowed the Mean Green to dominate its first four games. The Mean Green posted an absurd 14 tackles for loss on Saturday. That’s more than double their usual mark of 6.2 tackles for loss per game. The defense also forced a pair of turnovers.

Against the running game, UNT was dominant. Even discounting the sacks, UNT held the Golden Eagles to just 3.5 yards per carry. Thirty-three of the 85 rushing yards came on just one play. Southern Miss quarterback Jack Abraham was able to hit some big plays, but both turnovers came on pass plays.

“We wanted to make the one dimensional,” linebacker E.J. Ejiya said. “We made them a one way offense today.”

UNT coach Seth Littrell had one word to describe the way his defense played against Southern Miss.

“Unbelievable. Unbelievable,” Littrell said. “ That’s something we’ve seen and we know we can accomplish it. They heard a lot this week about Southern Miss’ defense. I feel like our guys went out with a chip on their shoulder and prove we’re a pretty dang good defense too.”

The defense was not the only unit that showed out. UNT’s rushing game really found its rhythm in the second half. Even without starting running back Loren Easly, the Mean Green posted 165 yards and 5.0 yards per carry. DeAndre Torrey also added three rushing scores.

It was the most rush yards Southern Miss has allowed this season, and the most against a conference opponent since Nov. 11, 2017, against Rice.

Good teams can win games consistently. Great teams can win in several different ways. UNT proved that not only can it win with defense – it can thrive.

Baylor is closer than you think

Baylor came into Darrell K. Royal Memorial Stadium as 14-point underdogs. Granted, Texas would have played much better with Sam Ehlinger in the lineup, but a 23-17 performance against the Longhorns – and a shot to win at the end – is nothing to scoff at.

The Bears faced off against a Texas team that managed to score at will against Oklahoma, and against a defense that held the most efficient offense in football underwater. But even while playing in Austin in front of a hostile crowd, true sophomore quarterback Charlie Brewer held things together.

His numbers weren’t especially impressive – 20-of-39 for 240 yards, one touchdown and one interception. However, his impact was far greater than that.

Texas is one of the best in football at stopping the run. Even without a running threat, Brewer engineered multiple sustained drives throughout the game that forced Texas’ defense to stay on the field for extended stretches.

Two of the three scoring drives went double-digit plays; Brewer was directly responsible for 14 of the 22 plays and 124 of the 136 yards on those two drives. Two hundred and sixty-two of the 328 total offensive yards also belong to him. Plenty of his incompletions were drops or balls thrown away too.

The defense also had an impressive effort. A year ago, Texas quarterback Shane Buechele torched Baylor for 300 total yards and a pair of touchdowns in a 38-7 victory. This time, Buechele mustered just 181 passing yards. Baylor also held Texas to just 4.1 yards per carry on the ground and Buechele to 5.4 yards per pass attempt.

This game came down to the very last possession – very last second, even. Baylor’s offense drove from the 3-yard line into the Texas red zone thanks to 69 yards of total offense from Brewer. He had three shots into the end zone, but all three fell incomplete.

This Baylor team is so young. Three of the top four tacklers against Texas will be back in 2019. True freshman safeties JT Woods and Christian Morgan combined for nine tackles. Really, the only place where there will be any major attrition is wide receiver; that might be the deepest position on the roster.

If Baylor can maintain the consistency it showed on Saturday against a strong Texas program, the Bears can absolutely win two more games and make a bowl game. Now, they have to do it.

Around the state:

• No. 22 Texas A&M 26, South Carolina 23: The Aggies are doing their best to lose football games. Texas A&M scored a touchdown with 96 seconds remaining to take a 10-point lead, but allowed a score 48 seconds later to make it too close for comfort. Kellen Mond exploded for 353 yards, but the Aggies didn’t look good against a lesser conference  opponent.
• Houston 42, East Carolina 20: The final stats don’t quite do the game justice. The Cougars were up 42-6 late in the fourth quarter. ECU accumulated nearly half of its stats and most of its points in the last eight minutes of the game. Ed Oliver obliterated the Pirates to the tune of five tackles for loss and two sacks. This was the dominant defensive performance we’ve been waiting for against an AAC team.
• Georgia Southern 15, Texas State 13: Would you believe me if I said the best player on the field in this game was Texas State’s tight end? Somehow, Keenen Brown got the ball on an end around and went 61 yards to set up a three-yard touchdown run – which he also punched in. Texas State refused to go away after going down 15-0. Against a good Georgia Southern team, that’s progress.
• Louisiana Tech 31, UTSA 3: The Roadrunners put forth an embarrassing performance against a decent conference opponent. Running backs B.J Daniels and Jalen Rhodes combined for just 19 rushing yards on 10 carries. The Roadrunners managed just 286 yards of total offense, and moved to 3-4 on the season. UTSA is an underdog in every game heading forward.
• UAB 35, Rice 0: The Blazers are good, but everything went wrong for the Owls in their first shutout loss since 2000. Quarterback Shawn Stankavage left the game with an injury, and the running backs mustered a combined 1.9 yards per rush attempt. Rice has been able to bank on its offense the past several weeks, but the unit was exposed against a good opponent.