BY DON WILLIAMS
AVALANCHE-JOURNAL

When Texas Tech beat Texas nine days ago for its first win over a top-ranked team, the Red Raiders left a lot of the celebration to their fellow students and fans.

Tech might be taking the college football world somewhat by surprise this season, but as for the Red Raiders themselves, they’re taking it in stride.

“It was not like (winning) the World Series or popping Gatorade — they were very level-headed,’’ Tech defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill said Saturday, describing the locker-room scene from the week before. “Tonight, same thing. This is a different group, and I think it starts with leadership.’’

On Saturday, second-ranked Tech continued unscathed through a stretch of ranked teams, dispatching No. 9 Oklahoma State 56-20 in front of the third-largest crowd at Jones AT&T Stadium.

There was an apprehension coming into the game that the Raiders would be able to sustain the high level of play they’d displayed the previous two weeks over Kansas and Texas, which were No. 19 and No. 1.

A fumble by Tech quarterback Graham Harrell on the third play and a touchdown by Oklahoma State three plays later didn’t ease the worries.

But Tech scored touchdowns on its next seven possessions, and the defense held Oklahoma State to a season-low in scoring.

So much for the letdown.

“I was proud of that,’’ Tech coach Mike Leach said of his team’s maintaining focus. “That seemed to surprise a lot of people other than our team, and I think it takes a certain mental discipline to do it. But one thing our team has done a really good job is to get absorbed in their work and their effort every day. We had good practices (last week), we had good preparation, all those things.’’

Harrell on Sunday was named the Walter Camp Football Foundation national offensive player of the week for his performance. He was 40 for 50 passing for 456 yards and six touchdowns.

Harrell threw three to flanker Mike Crabtree and one each to split end Edward Britton, inside receiver Eric Morris and running back Shannon Woods.

The Raiders never punted in 10 possessions. They just fumbled twice.

“That’s probably as good a whole game as we’ve put together this year,’’ said Morris, who had 97 yards while equaling a career-high with 10 receptions. “It seemed like we were clicking on all cylinders.’’

Running backs Baron Batch and Woods had what’s become a routine performance. Combined, they got 30 touches and produced 242 yards from scrimmage.

Early on, Oklahoma State varied the number of pass rushers it sent from snap to snap. Harrell hurt the Cowboys when they blitzed, and they eventually backed away.

As has been the case in seven of the 10 games this season, he wasn’t sacked.

“I’ve said several times the O-line’s the heart of this team, and it’s true,’’ Harrell said. “Those guys are unbelievable. To be that size and move like they do and protect like they do, it’s impressive to see. As many times as we throw the ball, you’d think they’d give up a few sacks, but they don’t even give up much pressure.’’

On the flip side, Tech was able to do enough defensively to help the team win easily.

Oklahoma State, when it took possession with 2:31 left in the game, had 154 rushing yards — which was its lowest since the season opener last year. The Cowboys got enough on the last few snaps to boost the total to 186.

Still, it was a far cry from last year’s game, when OSU had three 100-yard rushers and 366 rushing yards in a 49-45 conquest of Tech in Stillwater.

OSU running back Kendall Hunter, with 112 yards on 17 carries, became the first opponent running back to gain 100 on the Raiders this year. The previous best individual performance was by Nevada quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who carried 17 times for 92 yards. The best game against Tech by a running back had been Kansas’ Jake Sharp with 80 yards on 13 attempts.

A year ago, there were six individual 100-yard rushers against Tech.

“Well, they’ve all played,’’ Leach said of the defense’s improvement. “Even though they’re a young group, they’re typically sophomores and juniors. They got a lot of snaps under their belts last year. They just play really excited and play together.’’

Nevertheless, after the offense’s showing of eight TDs in 10 series, McNeill remained envious.

“Our offense is great because they’re consistent,’’ he said. “We’re not even able to be mentioned in the same breath as those guys now, because we’re not consistent yet. That’s what we’re striving to become, so we talk to (the defensive players) about playing 60 minutes.’’