This is the Depth Dossier: the Texas Tech Red Raiders, Week 7.

Texas Tech spent most of this season explaining slow starts, and then they went out and scored 43 points before halftime, turning a 53 to 25 win over Arizona State into a laugher by the break.

The Red Raiders led 21 to 7 after one quarter and 43 to 10 at halftime, racking up 404 yards before intermission alone. Running back J'Koby Williams, filling in as the featured back, ran for 165 yards on just 11 carries with two touchdowns, including a 62-yard breakaway. Quarterback Will Hammond was sharp, going 18 for 26 for 232 yards and a passing touchdown, plus a rushing score of his own. Wide receiver Kenny Johnson caught seven passes for 120 yards. And linebacker Ben Roberts had the defensive highlight, returning an interception for a touchdown. Arizona State's offense couldn't get anything going on the ground, managing just 35 rushing yards against a defense that piled up six sacks.

What's striking is how this flips the season's whole narrative. Head coach Joey McGuire has spent weeks explaining slow starts and second-half comebacks, and this time Tech did the opposite. That 43 to 10 halftime lead was one of the biggest in program history in Big 12 play, the largest since a 49-point first half against Baylor back in 2001. Then Tech scored zero points in the third quarter, easing off once the game was out of reach and Arizona State turned to backup quarterback Mikey Keene.

The pass rush deserves its own mention. Six sacks is Tech's best total since a nine-sack game against Kansas, and it buried an Arizona State offensive line that was already struggling. Roberts' pick-six came straight off that pressure.

There was one odd wrinkle. Kicker Stone Harrington attempted five field goals in a 53-point win, making four, from 31, 42, 37 and 34 yards, and missing from 36. For an offense averaging nearly eight yards a play, that many trips stalling into field-goal range is worth watching if it keeps happening.

Now to the depth chart, where the biggest story is at running back. Cameron Dickey is still out with a high-ankle sprain, and Williams answered with a huge night. Eleven carries for 165 yards and two touchdowns is the kind of performance that locks him in as the lead back for as long as Dickey's out. This wasn't a shared workload, it was one guy carrying the offense. Whether Tech goes back to a committee approach once Dickey's healthy is something to track.

On the defensive line, AJ Holmes and Jayden Cofield both saw fewer snaps, slipping in the rotation. But that comes with a caveat. Arizona State was throwing to catch up most of the game, so a 53 to 25 blowout isn't the cleanest way to judge real depth-chart changes. Treat that drop in snaps as more about the game script than a permanent shift until it shows up in a closer game.

Everywhere else, the roles stayed the same. Hammond's still running the offense, Johnson is the steady target in the passing game, and Roberts looks like the clear playmaker up front on defense. Going forward, keep an eye on Dickey's ankle and whether Williams' workload shrinks back down once his backfield mate is ready to go.

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