NO TIME FOR A RED & BLACK FRIDAY
by Larry Carlson for https://texaslsn.org
(TLSN's Larry Carlson teaches sports media classes at Texas State University. He is a member of the Football Writers Association of America.)
Nobody knows if this will be the final Horns-Red Raiders football game but Texas has a chance Friday night to right the wrong of what went down in Lubbock last year, a blown 17-point lead in the
final 20 minutes that ultimately led to an overtime loss. More important, much more, is UT's chance to clinch a seat at the table for next weekend's Big XII title game, along with an outside shot at the College Football Playoff. With that buffet of goodies on the night-after-Thanksgiving menu, let's look back at just a tiny sliver
of select moments from the series pie, some tasty, some laced with arsenic.
1961: The teams had played a handful of games before but this was Tech's first try against Texas as a bona fide, card-carryin' member of the old Southwest Conference. The Longhorns welcomed the Raiders with a 42-14 whipping and went on to a conference crown, a Cotton Bowl win, and a number three ranking in a marvelous 10-1 season that featured UT's first All-America running back, Jimmy Saxton.
1966: The site was Lubbock, and hometown boy Greg Lott, a Longhorn junior, quickly wore out his welcome home, taking the opening kickoff back 88 yards for a touchdown. Lott would also chip in 41 yards rushing on nine carries as Texas beat the Raiders, 31-21.
1995: In probably the best Austin moment for a John Mackovic-coached Texas team, the 13th-ranked Longhorns obliterated the 23rd-ranked Raiders on a cold, overcast night. Shon Mitchell and freshman Ricky Williams each rushed for more than 100 yards and the Texas defense pitched a shutout for 54 minutes in a 48-7 rout.
Terrific Tony Brackens delivered an all-time smackdown, leveling the hapless, helpless Tech kicker on an ill-fated fake field goal try. It was Tony's second greatest career stick at UT. The other big blast, cherished by many fans, came in '94 when Brackens, the future Jacksonville Jaguars star, ran full speed into Mackovic on the Texas
sidelines, in pursuit of Colorado's Kordell Stewart. The crash resulted in stitches for cuts on the coach's
chin and an elbow plus the delivery of a new starched white shirt. Several weeks later, it was determined that
Mackovic suffered a mild concussion from the faceoff with his top defensive player.
2008: It was Dia de Los Muertos in Lubbock, and the top-ranked Longhorns came out cold as a tombstone against Mike Leach's seventh-ranked Raiders. Texas trailed 22-6 at half and rallied late for what looked like another big win against a top team. But UT left Graham Harrell and Michael Crabtree just a few seconds too many. You know the rest. Here's the link to recall both 2008 and the "ten years after" matchup in '18.
https://www.texaslsn.org/larry-carlson-texas-tech-2008
The History of Longhorn Sports www.texaslsn.org
2018: Tech honored its '08 team at halftime. But the ghosts of Lubbock past seemed silenced as Texas held a
sizable 34-17 lead with but five minutes remaining. Oops. By the 1:45 mark, the Red Raiders had tied it. But right where the Crabtree catch had been made a decade earlier, UT's Li'l Jordan Humphrey went up like Air Jordan in his prime, spearing a Sam Ehlinger pass for the winning TD. Horns 41, Raiders 34.
2020: Crazy Covid times in Lubbock, and Tom Herman's bunch was down 15, 56-41 with scarcely three minutes to play, having wasted an earlier lead. But Slingin' Sam Ehlinger never knew the meaning of "quit." He connected for 2 TDs on boom-boom drives and Texas took the strange game into overtime. Then Ehlinger found Joshua Moore for the receiver's third TD catch of the day (Sam threw 5 scoring passes) and the Horns blew town like a triumphant tumbleweed, victors by a 63-56 knockout.
2021: Hard to believe this was only two years ago. In Steve Sarkisian's first encounter with Tech, UT stunned the Raiders early and led 42-14 at halftime, en route to a 70-35 beatdown. QB Casey Thompson hooked up with Xavier Worthy for three TD passes, Jordan Whittington caught another, and Keilan Robinson also
scored in the runaway win.
2022: For Texas, it was a bitter loss to stomach. The visiting Horns -- on a final journey to the South Plains -- owned a 31-17 lead with but four minutes to go in the third period. Then the Texas D couldn't get off the field, giving up countless third-and-fourth-down conversions to the feisty Raiders. Tech came all the way back and went one better to take the lead on a field goal with under a minute to play. Longhorn QB Hudson Card
quickly pushed Texas into place for a clutch 48-yard game-tying FG by Bert Auburn. But Texas fumbled on its first play in OT and the home team won, 37-34.
2023: It's all still out there within reach for the Longhorns at home. Can the cardiac kids win another to earn a title ticket in their final Big XII dance and perhaps a shot at the whole enchilada?
It's a Texas-sized opportunity to force-feed Tech and Conference Commissioner Brett Yormark some spoiled Thanksgiving leftovers.