Red Raiders Beat OU & Texas: Bookend Blueblood Wins To Build On For Future
Texas Tech has played Texas 72 times since 1928.
Texas Tech has played Oklahoma 30 times since 1992.
Texas Tech is a combined 25-77 against the pair (18-54 against Texas and 7-23 against Oklahoma).
But, on Saturday night, the Red Raiders (7-5, 4-5 in Big 12) did something they had never done before.
Texas Tech beat Texas and Oklahoma (6-6, 3-6) in the same season.
The crowd that spilled onto the field at Jones AT&T Stadium after Trey Wolff’s field goal in overtime, which gave the Red Raiders a 51-48 win, probably didn’t know that. But they probably knew that the win snapped a 10-game losing streak to the Sooners. It was also the first time the Red Raiders beat the Sooners in Lubbock since 2009.
Coach Joey McGuire is trying to build a program in Lubbock, one that can reach the heights that TCU has ascended this season — 12-0 and headed for the Big 12 Championship game next week, and potentially, the College Football Playoff.
To do that, a program needs wins like this, even if the Sooners aren’t the Sooners we’re used to. Texas Tech needs a win where they can take a punch — or several — and bounce back. The Sooners threw plenty of haymakers early, grabbing a 17-0 and 24-6 lead midway through the second quarter.
The Red Raiders outscored them 45-24 from there.
Texas Tech also needs players to come up clutch. Quarterback Tyler Shough did that, passing for 436 yards and two touchdowns. The defense stopped the Sooners on 3-of-4 fourth downs, including a fake field goal that, if executed properly, might have given the Sooners a 21-0 lead in the first quarter. Cornerback Dadrion Taylor-Demerson picked off a pass that led to a Red Raiders touchdown.
Then, of course, Wolff kicked two clutch field goals. The first the game-tying kick, came after the Sooners tried to ice him with a timeout with seconds left in regulation. The second came in overtime after the Sooners missed a field goal attempt of their own.
If it all sounds somewhat familiar, well, it’s how the Big 12 season started for Texas Tech. That game was in Lubbock. It was against Texas. The Red Raiders were down two touchdowns in the second half. That time, it was quarterback Donovan Smith that rallied them back. It was the Tech defense that forced a Texas fumble on the first play of overtime. It was Wolff that kicked the game-winning field goal in overtime. Many of the same Red Raider fans that stormed the field on Saturday night probably stormed it back in September.
In the Big 12, beating Oklahoma and Texas usually means you’re on your way to something greater. TCU beat them both this year and the Horned Frogs are headed to Arlington next week.
The only other Big 12 team to beat both Oklahoma and Texas this season is Texas Tech. Not even Kansas State — which will play TCU next week — pulled off that feat.
The Red Raiders aren’t headed where they want yet. They’ll head to a nice bowl game, get their 15 extra practices and start working toward 2023. But McGuire wants to build something in Lubbock closer to what the Red Raiders experienced in the Mike Leach days. Back then, the Red Raiders were always chasing Oklahoma and Texas. They never caught both in the same season.
McGuire has that on The Pirate. And he has a pair of nice bookend wins against the two departing bluebloods to build on for next season — and beyond.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
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