As fun as it was for the players to "have a chance to celebrate and be happy" after Saturday's 38-9 road win at Kansas, Matt Rhule also liked the way the Bears finished the game.

"I didn't want a team that, when we finally got up and had a chance to win, would celebrate too early or be careless or sloppy or make the other team look bad or not be respectful," Rhule said Tuesday at his weekly press conference. "I just like the way our guys handled it at the end of the game. . . . We won the game, shook their hands, said a prayer, went and saw our fans, and went to the locker room. The nice thing was that the way we handled things when we lost was the same way we handled things when we won."

It was a total team effort that saw the offense click with first-time starter Charlie Brewer at quarterback and the defense dominate with two turnovers and its second fourth-quarter shutout in the last three games. The Bears gave up a season-low 289 yards, including just 45 yards after the opening drive of the third quarter.

"I thought our defensive line was fantastic," Rhule said. "There are just a lot of guys in that group that are rotating in and playing. I'm proud of Ira (Lewis) and Bravvion (Roy) and Greg Roberts and Jamie Jacobs and all those guys. (Redshirt freshman d-tackle) Will Jones played his first football and got out there and did a nice job. I thought a lot of guys on the defensive line made a real impact."

The Bears (1-8, 1-5) will need much more of that in the annual Texas Farm Bureau Insurance Shootout against Texas Tech (4-5, 1-5), which kicks off at 11 a.m. Saturday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. Tech has a "dynamic" offense that ranks fifth in the nation in passing yards per game (354.4), ninth in total offense (506.9) and 17th in scoring (38.2).

"They go fast, so they challenge you with tempo," Rhule said. "They spread the field. They do everything. . . . It's going to be a challenge for us defensively. We try to be multiple. We try to play four-down, three-down. We try to blitz. We try to do all that, but these guys will challenge you. They have an answer for everything."

Senior quarterback Nic Shimonek has already thrown for 3,550 yards and 26 touchdowns, with junior receiver Keke Coutee ranking among the national leaders with 69 catches for 1,026 yards and nine touchdowns through the first nine games.

"Keke Coutee has really kind of torn up everybody that he's played against," Rhule said. "He's a deep-ball threat. . . . The quarterback is playing really, really well. And they're as good of an offensive line as we've seen. They're just really good at what they do."

With sophomore quarterback Zach Smith recovering from an AC separation in his right (throwing) shoulder, Rhule said Brewer "would be the starter if we were playing today." The freshman quarterback from Austin Lake Travis was an efficient 23-of-29 for 315 yards and three touchdowns in his first career start.

"I haven't really seen if Zach can throw yet. So, we'll go out there this afternoon and see," Rhule said. "I asked him last night, and he said he was still getting better, but limited. So, I'm sure we'll go out there today with Charlie, and then see what Zach's able to do. If Zach's able to do more, maybe we'll change our thoughts."

Sophomore Blake Lynch, who has started two games at cornerback and one at receiver this year, will "probably have to continue to play on offense some," Rhule said. Making his first start on offense since playing running back against Kansas State on Nov. 19, 2016, Lynch had two catches for 10 yards against Kansas.

"I think really, at the end of the day, Blake's probably going to leave here as one of the greatest safeties to have played here. He's just got unique defensive skills," Rhule said. "We need him on offense right now, and we kind of need him on defense. Guys are banged up on defense as well.

"Blake is up to the challenge. Mentally, he can handle all of it. It's just about getting into the game and how much load we put on him. He's just a unique, unique athlete, so we have to try to take advantage of him on both sides of the ball."

Rhule said senior linebacker Taylor Young's move from weakside to the middle is comparable to us going to England and trying to drive on the left side of the car.

"You're still driving, you've been driving your whole life, but everything is flipped," he said. "It's one thing to do it on an open race track, it's another thing to do it when cars are coming at you."

Young, who said it took him "a series or two to get his bearings, where he was really comfortable," finished with 10 tackles, one sack and two other tackles for losses.

"Watching Taylor, I was like, 'Wow, that's who he is. He is a (middle) linebacker,''' Rhule said. "Just some instinctive things that he does that you can't really coach. I thought it was really special during the week leading up to it. And then, to be able to go out in the game and play at that level ÃÆ'Æ'à € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢' ¬" not just in terms of the production, not just that, but the way he played, what it looked like on film."