Guns Down: Longhorns Top Red Raiders in Lubbock 45-37

Lubbock, TX – The heavy fog that set in over Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock seemed appropriate as the Longhorns prepared to take on Texas Tech. Both teams entered the game with identical 4-4 records, and a figurative fog hung over the Longhorn program and Charlie Strong. Both teams were in search of a win to get one game closer to bowl eligibility. Texas Tech started off the festivities with a 9 play drive resulting in a Cameron Batson touchdown reception. Mahomes was surgical early as he marched the Red Raiders down the field on the strength of his remarkable escape ability and precision passing. The Longhorns answered right back with a 4 play, 69 yard drive in just 54 seconds to tie the game on a D’Onta Foreman run. The Texas running back continued his assault on the record books with a 55-yard run early in the 2^nd quarter to put him over 100 yards in his 10^th straight game. Foreman is just one game shy of tying Earl Campbell’s record for consecutive 100 yard performances.

While Foreman was putting the finishing touches on what could be his last season in burnt orange, Collin Johnson was busy penning the opening lines to his career. The mammoth freshman receiver hauled in two acrobatic touchdowns in the first half. Texas kept the Raider offense in check by dropping a majority of the defense into coverage and spying Mahomes with Malik Jefferson. The Longhorn offense couldn’t get the separation they needed on the scoreboard due to several unforced errors. Jerrod Heard dropped a deep ball for a likely touchdown, and a chop block penalty cost Caleb Bluiett a touchdown on a pass from Tyrone Swoopes. The oddest play of the year appeared to swing the momentum for Texas Tech. On 3^rd and goal from the 24 D’Onta Foreman carried the entire Texas Tech defense to the goal line and appeared to be going in for the score when Texas Tech defensive back Douglas Coleman stripped the ball and returned it 100 yards for a touchdown to give the Raiders a 23-14 lead. The Tech defense forced a three and out on the following drive, and the Longhorns looked like they were officially on the ropes.

Mental toughness is a hallmark of the 2016 Longhorn football team. Despite some very poor performances this season, they rarely find themselves out of the fight. The Texas defense rallied and forced a punt of their own, and Shane Buechele engineered a 9 play, 75 yard drive culminating in Collin Johnson’s second touchdown of the game. Texas forced the Red Raiders to punt again on the following drive, and Trent Domingue converted a 29 yard field goal in the closing seconds of the half to give Texas a 24-23 halftime lead. The Longhorn offense cut through the defense like a hot knife through butter on the first drive of the half. Tyrone Swoopes bulldozed his way into the end zone out of a new look 18 Wheeler package featuring Patrick Vahe from a fullback position. Mahomes and company were stymied again on the following drive, but the Red Raiders converted a 25 yard fake punt to extend the drive. Mahomes took advantage of a new set of downs with a methodical drive to cut the Texas lead to 31-30. D’Onta Foreman continued his incredible season with back to back scores of 38 and 74 yards to put him over 300 yards. The Longhorns held a 45-30 lead at the beginning of the 4^th quarter, and looked poised to run away from the Red Raiders.

Patrick Mahomes had other ideas. After getting the ball with nice field position following a Kyle Porter fumble, Mahomes engineered a scoring drive capped off with Da’Leon Ward’s 9-yard touchdown run. The Longhorns suddenly went into the tank offensively, and squandered several chances to kill the game. After the Texas defense stopped Mahomes on a 4^th and 1, Texas could not run the clock out with failed attempts at the 18 Wheeler. The Red Raiders got the ball back at the Texas 20 with just over two minutes to go. Mahomes calmly marched the Raiders down the field, and appeared to score on a pass to Dylan Cantrell that was ruled incomplete. With 9 seconds remaining and the ball on the 20-yard line, Mahomes was intercepted by Kris Boyd seal the Longhorns first road win of the season. The Longhorns were fired up for their first road victory afterwards, and Charlie Strong looked like a bit of the burden was lifted off of him in the post-game press conference. “You see guys continuing to battle”, Strong said. “We have a young team. We have some seniors that want to win”. Just a few weeks ago, the obituaries were being written for Strong at Texas, and even though he’s not out of the woods yet it’s possible he can see some daylight. “We can end out the season pretty good. The win last week really helped us”.

The Red Raiders were held to 482 yards on 100 plays, and while that’s not normally a defensive benchmark for a team, it’s encouraging for a defense that performed poorly for most of the year. Strong said in the post-game that he wanted this game to fall on the defense in order to build confidence. The Texas defense really stepped up in the second quarter to keep the Texas Tech offense off the board. “It was big in the second quarter, because we scored. And then I think it was maybe three minutes and then they get the ball back, and I said, hey, we got to get this stop, because it happened to us like the last five minutes of the first half. We have given up a big play and we have given up a touchdown. Then we go and score, and we get the ball back again, and I think they get it back with 30 seconds to take a knee”. The defense came through once again on the game-clinching stop at the end of the game. “I kind of wanted the game to fall on the defense’s hands”, said Strong. “I said, hey, you know what, guys? This is exactly the way we want it. Now, we have been playing well all game, now let’s go finish the game”.

Has this team really turned a corner? That question is still up in the air, but Strong believes his team controls their own destiny. “I told them the other day, I said, we have four games left, and I said we control our own destiny. I said we got to go on the road against a really good Texas Tech team, and then we get to come home against West Virginia. We got to go to Kansas, and then we get to come home again against TCU”. Texas will return to Austin with a matchup against West Virginia next on the docket. The Longhorns remaining road game is a contest against Kansas in Lawrence. If the Longhorns can pull off a win against the Mountaineers they will set themselves up for a nice finish to the season. For now they will focus on a strong, but beatable West Virginia team as they look to continue the “Save Charlie’s Job Tour”.