Texas at Texas Tech Recap

There was a lot of talk about revenge during the week by the Texas fans. There was talk that Texas would be so upset by the loss last season that cost them a trip to the Big 12 title game, that they would be able to name the score on Saturday night. Instead the Longhorns got another back and forth game against Texas Tech that was not decided until the final minutes, with the Texas holding on for a 34-24 victory.

Each offense could not score in the first half as both defenses hit hard and forced quarterbacks, Colt McCoy and Taylor Potts, out of their comfort zones. The Texas offense and Colt McCoy stumbled around through the first two quarters leaving the special teams to put up the points. Jordan Shipley returned a punt 46 yards for a touchdown and Hunter Lawrence kicked a 43 yard field goal to give the Longhorns a 10-3 lead at halftime. McCoy was off all night despite being 24-34 for 205 yards and a touchdown. He missed some easy throws and was intercepted twice, both times in Texas Tech territory, keeping the Red Raiders in the game. If McCoy (who battled the flu all week) was just a little sharper this game would have been won by a larger margin. However, the Red Raiders were able to stay in the game with Taylor Potts passing for 420 yards and three touchdowns, that all came in a high scoring second half for both teams.

The Texas defense held late and the Longhorns had some breathing room when they forced Potts to turn the ball over twice in the fourth quarter. Potts was intercepted by Earl Thomas and fumbled on a sack by Sergio Kindle and that effectively put the game out of reach for the Red Raiders. Kindle was around Potts all night and had a hand in both turnovers as he put pressure on Potts when he threw his fourth quarter interception to go along with the sack and forced fumble.

McCoy finally put some distance between the Longhorns and Red Raiders with a 3 yard touchdown pass to Dan Buckner to give Texas a 31-17 lead. However, Potts threw a 22 yard pass to Tramain Swindall with 6:58 left to get the Red Raiders back to within a touchdown. The Longhorns followed that by putting the game away for good with a 33 yard field goal by Hunter Lawrence that ended the scoring for the evening.

Instead of revenge the Longhorns had to have more of a sense of relief at the end of this one. Texas coach Mack Brown summed it up best after the game when he called it “Survival”.

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By Robert Konis
Big 12 Fans Texas Longhorns Correspondent

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