Texas Tech Football Notebook
Record crowd
Attendance for Saturday’s game at the new Cowboys Stadium was 71,964, the largest crowd in the 68-game history of the Texas Tech-Baylor series. The previous record crowd was 53,470 last year at Jones AT&T Stadium.
“It was great,’’ Tech coach Mike Leach said. “I thought the Red Raider fans were fantastic. You had the two bands dueling back and forth. It was impressive.’’
The game was the first of a two-year agreement for the Red Raiders and Bears to play in the Metroplex. Next year’s game will be on Oct. 9 at the Cotton Bowl during the State Fair of Texas.
The $1.2 billion Cowboys Stadium has been described as football in a spaceship, and Leach seized on that in his post-game comments.
“I was waiting for George Jetson and Elroy and the dog to come out and start doing some stuff and to buzz around and do their thing,’’ Leach said, “because it’s very impressive and the quality that they said it is, it is. So it was fun.’’
Texas Tech defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill talks with senior linebacker Marlon Williams Saturday night after Tech's 20-13 victory over Baylor at Dallas Cowboys Stadium. Saturday's game in Dallas was the last of Tech's regular season.
Going for broke
Baylor coach Art Briles said the Bears would have gone for two points had they scored a touchdown to pull within 20-19 with about a minute left.
“We already had a play picked out, actually,’’ Briles said. “We were going to go for two if we scored with less than two minutes left.’’
Touchdowns in bunches
Tech split end Lyle Leong continued his unusual pattern of interrupting lengthy dry spells with multiple touchdowns in one game. The junior wide receiver raised his career total for touchdown receptions to 12, all but two of which have come in multi-touchdown games.
Leong caught two Saturday and had two at Texas and three against Rice. Last year, he had three TD catches at Kansas State.
Bears pull switch
True freshman quarterback Nick Florence had started six of the previous seven games for Baylor, so it was a surprise move when the Bears opted for senior Blake Szymanski in their season finale.
Bears coach Art Briles said both took snaps with the first team last week in practice, but the decision to start Szymanski wasn’t made until less than an hour before kickoff.
“The stretch (of a season), as a quarterback it wears on you a little bit,’’ Briles said. “Nick, physically and mentally, he’d never tell you because he’s such a competitor and a great human being. But it shows a little.’’
Szymanski completed 22 of 35 passes for 234 yards and ran 14 times for 43 yards and a touchdown. But the Bears wound up with 14 points or fewer for the seventh time in their eight Big 12 Conference games.
In brief
Baylor’s three points allowed in the first half was its lowest yield in the first half all season. … Baylor’s Dary Stone and Tech’s Matt Williams both kicked career-long field goals, Stone from 40 yards in the third quarter and Williams from 43 yards in the fourth. … Tech DE Brandon Sharpe recorded his 14th sack, tying the single-season school record. Sharpe also forced Baylor QB Blake Szymanski to commit an intentional grounding penalty that was not credited as a sack. Tech spokesman Blayne Beal said Tech officials will appeal to game statisticians to have a sack credited. … Tech freshman IR Austin Zouzalik led the team with seven catches for 92 yards, both season highs.
Compiled by Don Williams
More from this category
- Mulkey, Griner speak after loss to Oklahoma
- NIT-ology. Thank goodness for Google.
- Charlie Creme: Lady Raiders can still get in NCAA tournament
- Smalls snubbed from Big 12 all-Freshman team
- Barncastle in warmups, on court practicing
- Okories sets career, Tech season high with 34 points
- Griner issues apology for punching Barncastle
- The Barncastle-Griner spat that preceded Wednesday’s punch
More from this author
- Tech moves football opener to a Sunday
- Osaghae takes third in hurdles at NCAA indoor championships
- Tech women’s relay, Lamb earn all-America honors at NCAA indoor
- Top five is Tech men’s goal at NCAA indoor meet
- High standards precede Brewer in Hub
Subscribe to this author
TYPICAL TECH FOOTBALL! Leave it to the Tech football team to louse up a sure thing in Dallas by almost losing to low-life Baylor. From one game to the next, you never know what team in witch color uniforms will shoe up for the game. Notice i didn’t say, show up TO PLAY? Today the Raiders, not Red Raiders, didn’t show up to play. Oh yeah the defence did a great job at times but the offense was a total NO-SHOW yet again. Lamebrain Potts still can’t pass the ball with any accuracy at all with 3/4 of his trows going over thrown or behind the receiver. Im sorry, but enough is enough! If potts plays in the Bowl game Tech will get, It will be nothing but total embarassment to Tech, Lubbock, and will be a very big black eye for recruiting. Lets hope Leach is smart enough to play Sheffield in the Bowl game. Tech would stand a great chance of winning and helping the the recruiting as well…
Report this comment
Briles outcoached Leach – AGAIN.
Report this comment
and yet, Leach still gets the win!
Wreck ‘Em, Tech!
Report this comment
I think Ben is ticked that Baylor lost
Report this comment
Ben,
Baylor lost their QB and their season nosedived.
We played 3 Qb’s and still won 8 games.
Yea, Leach has gone as far as he can go *rolls eyes*
Report this comment
Ben,
Leach did not get outcoached… Its a different mentality when you know this is your last game of the season or career you have nothing to lose. Personally I think those are the games you have to watch out for, look at the UT VS AM game it was close. Baylor said it before the game that this was there Bowl game and they sure played it that way. Also I think Tech players were taking them lightly.
Your prob a Baylor fan too…. So take that L back to WACO, TX with you.
GUNZ UP
Report this comment
Good Win, against an inspired Bears effort! At times Baylor made us look bad, good coaching from A. Briles, but better coaching from Leach and staff guiding our Raiders to the W!!
Report this comment
“Nick” does not want to play he is to worried about losing brain cells for his med degree. I hope he does us all a favor and leave the team. He has no anticipation, only throws to the man after he is open and most of those are off his back foot. Leach this team is good, just get a QB that wants to play.
Report this comment
Please quit ragging on Taylor Potts. He is doing the job, even if it is not spectacular. A win is a win. It isn’t like we are in the running to go to the faux national championship game. That would be TCU.
Report this comment
So we won by 7 points to Baylor. So what? We won. Get over it. If you really have such a problem with winning ugly then you have other issues with leach well beyond Saturday. We won. We were predicted to be 10th in the big 12 and will end up getting 3rd by the end of the year. We are 8-4, which is about where we were supposed to end up. Just think 6 months from now, I would rather be talking how we barley won against Baylor instead of the alternative. Get over it.
Report this comment
1st of all, just to justify my following statements, I was actually AT the game. Most of Potts’ passes were not bad passes. Many of them were dropped. He did a great job of moving outside of the pocket and avoiding sacks. There was the unfortunate INT but other than that he had a pretty solid game. The Bears had a great game plan and they played their hearts out. We have a very young team and people need to realize that 75% of them will be back next year with more poise and experience. That is what college football is all about. It is very rare to have a team like Florida or Alabama that is so incredibly good for such a young team. People’s expectations get jaded when they see that and they seem to expect all teams to have that ability. 8-4 with the potential to be 9-4 after an Alamo Game victory sounds pretty good on a rebuilding year. I would also like to point out to all you record nazis that Tech could easily be 10-2 or 11-1 without the losses to Houston and OK State. Stay optimistic folks!
Report this comment
Good game, Baylor. I think some people are being too hard on Potts. Have you forgotten about the OU game last week?
Wreck ‘em Tech!
Report this comment
If I were a bear, I would be asking why he (the QB) didn’t play earlier in the season? Is Briles so smart? They may have won some more games….
Report this comment