ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Scoring just two touchdowns and two field goals usually means trouble for Mike Leach and the Texas Tech Red Raiders.
Against Baylor on Saturday, it was enough for a 20-13 victory.
Taylor Potts threw a pair of touchdown passes to Lyle Leong less than two minutes apart midway through the third quarter and the defense made a goal-line stand in the final minutes, giving Texas Tech a rare low-scoring victory.
The Red Raiders (8-4, 5-3 Big 12) hadn’t scored so few points and still won since beating Texas A&M 12-0 in November 2001. It was the third-fewest points in a victory in Leach’s 10-year tenure. The Red Raiders came in averaging 38.2 points, seventh best in the nation.
Tech players might have been flat because they had little on the line beyond the excitement of playing in the Dallas Cowboys’ new stadium. Oklahoma State’s loss earlier Saturday put it in line to get the Big 12’s spot in the Cotton Bowl, leaving Tech headed for the Holiday or Alamo Bowl regardless of this outcome.
“We spent about two-thirds of the game playing with nine guys,” said Leach, meaning he didn’t feel everyone was trying their hardest on every play. “But in the end, when it’s tough, a lot of guys give up the ghost and our guys didn’t. ... Sometimes you’ve just got to find a way.”
Baylor (4-8, 1-7) let senior quarterback Blake Szymanski start his final game instead of freshman Nick Florence, who’d started the last five games.
Szymanski hit a 57-yard pass on the opening drive and had the Bears up 10-0 and 13-3 early in the second half.
Late in the fourth quarter, Szymanski faced first-and-goal from the 10. Two runs and an incompletion left Baylor with fourth down from the 5. On the game-deciding play, he scrambled to his right and threw behind receiver Ernest Smith.
Even if Smith had caught it, he wasn’t in the end zone, and two Tech players were near him.
“Everybody played hard,” Baylor coach Art Briles said. “You can go to any position, and those guys played hard to win. It came up (5) yards short. It would be interesting to see if we made it, because we weren’t going into OT. ... We already had a (2-point) play picked out, actually.”
Szymanski finished 22 of 35 for 234 yards. He also ran 14 times for another 43 yards, including a 1-yard touchdown plunge. It also was the final game for star linebacker Joe Pawelek.
“Being a fifth-year guy, you think you would be itching to get out of here,” Pawelek said. “But the way this program is going, we are wishing we had another four years.”
Potts was 29-for-46 for 227 yards with an interception. Leong, Austin Zouzalik and Alex Torres each caught six passes. Defensive end Brandon Sharpe tied the school sack record with his 14th of the season.
Playing in front of a heavily pro-Tech crowd, the Red Raiders were shut out until Matt Williams kicked a field goal with four seconds left to halftime. Trailing 10-3 at halftime, they got the ball to open the second half — and fumbled on the first play to fall. They wound up trailing by 10 again.
Potts capped the next series with a 6-yard touchdown pass to Leong. Then senior Brent Nickerson nabbed his first career interception to give Potts the ball at the Baylor 32. Potts then hit Leong in the end zone for a 12-yard, go-ahead touchdown.
After a fake 35-yard field goal failed early in the fourth quarter, Leach let Williams try stretching the lead from the 43. And he did, booting the longest field goal of his career to put Tech up by seven with 6:24 left.
Tech has beaten Baylor 14 straight games. This was the first of two held at neutral sites in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Next year’s game will be at the Cotton Bowl during the state fair.
What did Leach think of the $1.2 billion Cowboys Stadium?
“I was waiting for George Jetson and Elroy and the dog to come out and start doing some stuff and buzz around and do their thing,” he said. “It’s very impressive, and the quality they said it is, it is. It was fun.”
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ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Scoring just two touchdowns and two field goals usually means trouble for Mike Leach and the Texas Tech Red Raiders.
Against Baylor on Saturday, it was enough for a 20-13 victory.
Taylor Potts threw a pair of touchdown passes to Lyle Leong less than two minutes apart midway through the third quarter and the defense made a goal-line stand in the final minutes, giving Texas Tech a rare low-scoring victory.
The Red Raiders (8-4, 5-3 Big 12) hadn’t scored so few points and still won since beating Texas A&M 12-0 in November 2001. It was the third-fewest points in a victory in Leach’s 10-year tenure. The Red Raiders came in averaging 38.2 points, seventh best in the nation.
Tech players might have been flat because they had little on the line beyond the excitement of playing in the Dallas Cowboys’ new stadium. Oklahoma State’s loss earlier Saturday put it in line to get the Big 12’s spot in the Cotton Bowl, leaving Tech headed for the Holiday or Alamo Bowl regardless of this outcome.
“We spent about two-thirds of the game playing with nine guys,” said Leach, meaning he didn’t feel everyone was trying their hardest on every play. “But in the end, when it’s tough, a lot of guys give up the ghost and our guys didn’t. ... Sometimes you’ve just got to find a way.”
Baylor (4-8, 1-7) let senior quarterback Blake Szymanski start his final game instead of freshman Nick Florence, who’d started the last five games.
Szymanski hit a 57-yard pass on the opening drive and had the Bears up 10-0 and 13-3 early in the second half.
Late in the fourth quarter, Szymanski faced first-and-goal from the 10. Two runs and an incompletion left Baylor with fourth down from the 5. On the game-deciding play, he scrambled to his right and threw behind receiver Ernest Smith.
Even if Smith had caught it, he wasn’t in the end zone, and two Tech players were near him.
“Everybody played hard,” Baylor coach Art Briles said. “You can go to any position, and those guys played hard to win. It came up (5) yards short. It would be interesting to see if we made it, because we weren’t going into OT. ... We already had a (2-point) play picked out, actually.”
Szymanski finished 22 of 35 for 234 yards. He also ran 14 times for another 43 yards, including a 1-yard touchdown plunge. It also was the final game for star linebacker Joe Pawelek.
“Being a fifth-year guy, you think you would be itching to get out of here,” Pawelek said. “But the way this program is going, we are wishing we had another four years.”
Potts was 29-for-46 for 227 yards with an interception. Leong, Austin Zouzalik and Alex Torres each caught six passes. Defensive end Brandon Sharpe tied the school sack record with his 14th of the season.
Playing in front of a heavily pro-Tech crowd, the Red Raiders were shut out until Matt Williams kicked a field goal with four seconds left to halftime. Trailing 10-3 at halftime, they got the ball to open the second half — and fumbled on the first play to fall. They wound up trailing by 10 again.
Potts capped the next series with a 6-yard touchdown pass to Leong. Then senior Brent Nickerson nabbed his first career interception to give Potts the ball at the Baylor 32. Potts then hit Leong in the end zone for a 12-yard, go-ahead touchdown.
After a fake 35-yard field goal failed early in the fourth quarter, Leach let Williams try stretching the lead from the 43. And he did, booting the longest field goal of his career to put Tech up by seven with 6:24 left.
Tech has beaten Baylor 14 straight games. This was the first of two held at neutral sites in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Next year’s game will be at the Cotton Bowl during the state fair.
What did Leach think of the $1.2 billion Cowboys Stadium?
“I was waiting for George Jetson and Elroy and the dog to come out and start doing some stuff and buzz around and do their thing,” he said. “It’s very impressive, and the quality they said it is, it is. It was fun.”
