LUBBOCK, Texas -- Eight seconds remained on the clock, eight seconds left in a game that appeared as if it would defy the laws of college football. No. 7 Texas Tech had dominated No. 1 Texas Saturday night. The Red Raiders had walled off the Longhorn running game. They had sacked Colt McCoy four times, intercepted him and returned it for a touchdown. Texas receivers dropped five passes in the first half alone.
And somehow Texas led, 33-32.
Texas Tech had gained 551 yards, had held the ball almost 37 minutes and had won the turnover battle, two to one. The Red Raiders had the home crowd, which was the biggest (56,333) in the history of Jones AT&T Stadium. Texas Tech had the ball on the Texas 28, and by all that is right and true, the Red Raiders should have needed only to take a knee.
They had everything they needed to get the school's first victory over a No. 1 team in history. It would also be Texas Tech's 500th victory, not to mention the victory that would legitimize the Red Raiders in the minds of those who bow to tradition.
They had everything but points, and to get the points, the Red Raiders needed yards. For all the offensive luxuries that Texas Tech possesses, none of them include a field goal kicker dependable outside of 30 yards.
On the previous play, Texas Tech quarterback Graham Harrell had scrambled to his left and flipped a pass to Edward Britton. The ball sailed off Britton's hands, into the breadbasket of Texas defensive back Blake Gideon -- and out again. The ball fell to the turf.
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Michael Crabtree
Brendan Maloney/US Presswire
Michael Crabtree's 28-yard touchdown catch lifted No. 7 Texas Tech past No. 1 Texas.
You didn't need to be Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp to know what Texas Tech would do. The blue-haired ladies in burnt orange sweaters in the upper deck of the east side stands knew. Texas Tech sophomore Michael Crabtree lined up on the right side. Texas corner Curtis Brown would cover him, and safety Earl Thomas lurked behind Brown in case the 6-foot-5 All-American beat him.
Crabtree had caught 70 passes for 893 yards and 14 touchdowns this season. But he hadn't caught a touchdown Saturday night.
"On the sideline, I dreamed that I would catch a pass and go in the end zone for a game-winning touchdown," Crabtree said afterward. "But I do that every game."
Harrell called a fade, a pass where the sideline is a receiver's friend. The fade pass thrown correctly can't be defensed.
"That's the basis of this offense, the vertical passing game," Harrell said. "That's a vertical we threw blind. And we do that time and time again. We practice that every day in practice. We practice going over the top on the fade (throwing over the receiver's head) and the throw-behind. On that one, the corner wasn't looking. If he's not looking, throw it behind his head and let the receiver make a play."
You have to understand the relationship between Harrell and Crabtree. Texas Tech defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill recalled spending an hour on the StairMaster last summer, while Harrell and Crabtree practiced in the stifling West Texas heat.
"I saw them do it for over an hour," McNeill said. "I don't know how many routes you can run in a hour, but that's a lot of routes."
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Graham Harrell
AP Photo/LM Otero
Quarterback Graham Harrell torched Texas for 474 yards and two touchdowns.
Crabtree started downfield. Harrell saw that Brown had his back turned to him. Crabtree caught the ball inside the 5. He planted his foot and pivoted. He didn't go out of bounds.
Brown slid off of him. When Crabtree pivoted, Thomas, the safety, ran past him. He ran into the end zone. Crabtree had made his sideline dream come true.
"It happened!" Crabtree said, his voice revealing his delight. "It kind of shocked me."
The Red Raiders celebrated behind the north end zone, and either they or the fans who rushed the field got an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. After the fans cleared the field, Matt Williams kicked the extra point, and the fans rushed the field again, getting another penalty.
Texas Tech had to kick off from its 7-yard-line. Texas hoped to fair catch, which would not start the clock and allow the Longhorns one more play to win. A squib kick forced their hand. When the fans rushed the field this time, they drew no penalty flags. They just celebrated Texas Tech's 39-33 win.
"I was proud of our guys because we didn't play consistently well tonight," Texas coach Mack Brown said. "We had a lot of problems and to their credit they kept fighting back. All we did was score too quick at the end. We should have taken more time off the clock."
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Colt McCoy
Brendan Maloney/US Presswire
Texas quarterback Colt McCoy passed for 274 yards and two TDs, but the Longhorns came up short.
Brown referred to an 11-play, 80-yard drive led by McCoy that ended with 1:29 to play when Vondrell McGee ran four yards for the go-ahead touchdown. It was unlike any other drive by the Longhorns Saturday night; that is, it went virtually without a hitch. Prior to that, it would be polite to say the Texas offense struggled. The fact is, you could watch the video of this game from now until Thanksgiving and not figure how Texas had pulled ahead.
As the Red Raiders began that final drive, that thought even crossed Leach's mind "a little bit," he said, a rare admission of emotion from a head coach who, like most of them, preaches focusing on the task at hand. The rest of the time, he refused to discuss the import of the game. Leach reminded one and all that No. 9 Oklahoma State would be in Lubbock next Saturday.
"Now the biggest game in history is Oklahoma State," Leach said, "in the history of this year."
Texas is relegated to hoping that its six-point road loss to a top-10 team will look better than Florida's one-point home loss to an unranked team.
"When you lose it's tough," said McCoy, who finished 20-of-34 for 294 yards, two touchdowns, and that one interception that safety Daniel Charbonnet took 18 yards for a Red Raider touchdown. "That's a hard thing to deal with, but this team is aweome and this team fought. We didn't play good but we fought until the end."
No matter what Colt McCoy achieves in the rest of his football career, no matter how many games he wins, passes he completes or Heismans he lifts, he will remember every single play of what transpired Saturday night. For players, the victories fade from memory. The losses never do.
For fans, however, the victories don't fade. Car horns honked for two hours after the game, well into Sunday morning. The first victory over No. 1 and the 500th victory in Texas Tech history will be pressed in the Red Raider family Bible. Texas Tech dominated -- and survived.
Ivan Maisel is a senior writer for ESPN.com. Send your questions and comments to Ivan at
[email protected]. His new book, "The Maisel Report: College Football's Most Overrated & Underrated Players, Coaches, Teams, and Traditions," is on sale now. For more information, go to TheMaiselReport.com.
Related Topics: NCF, Texas Tech Red Raiders, Texas Longhorns
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