LUBBOCK, Texas – With the game easily won, cheers of “one more score, one more score” echoed throughout Jones AT&T Stadium Saturday in Texas Tech’s 41-13 beat-down of the Sooners.
The loss drops OU to 6-5 overall and 4-3 in the Big 12 with one game remaining on its schedule. The 28-point differential was the highest difference in an OU loss since the 45-12 loss to Texas in 2005.
The five losses ties a team high for any Sooners team under the control of head coach Bob Stoops. The last time OU had a five-loss season was back in Stoops’ first season as head coach in 1999 when the team finished the season with a 7-5 record and a trip to the Independence Bowl.
Junior quarterback Taylor Potts came out on fire for most of Texas Tech’s first two drives throwing for over 100 yards with his only blemish being an interception to safety Jonathan Nelson in OU’s territory.
Potts efficiently drove the Red Raiders down the field in the game’s opening possession which ended in a 33-yard field goal by junior kicker Matt Williams. Potts completed six of eight passes for 49 yards on the drive with his only two incompletions coming inside the Sooners’ 20 yard line.
OU freshman quarterback Landry Jones had a promising start to the game, completing underneath passes to three receivers while occasionally airing the ball out to his deep receivers.
Stoops had been dealing with the kicking situation question all week heading into Saturday’s game, but sophomore kicker Patrick O’Hara put all doubt to rest with a 47-yard field goal on the Sooners’ second drive. The field goal was a season long for any OU kicker this season, and the longest by any Sooner kicker since kicker Garrett Hartley was three for three in kicks from 40 yards or further.
“As soon as the ball comes off my foot I normally know if it’s going in or not,” O’Hara said. “Every ball I hit today was money.”
With the score tied 3-3 early in the second quarter, O’Hara added a 22-yard field goal to give the Sooners a short-lived 6-3 lead.
Texas Tech broke the battle of the field goals and took a 10-6 lead midway through the second quarter on a one-yard touchdown run by junior running back Baron Batch. The play was set up by a 65-yard pass to freshman wide receiver Alex Torres and a pass interference by junior defensive back Dominique Franks.
In the Sooners’ ensuing possession, they took another blow to the offensive line because of injury. Freshman center Ben Habern was helped off the field after grabbing his right knee in pain.
Stoops said Habern broke his fibula and will miss the rest of the season.
Texas Tech’s offense continued to pass all over OU’s secondary in the last few minutes of the second quarter en route to a 21-yard touchdown pass from Potts to freshman wide receiver Austin Zouzalik. The touchdown put the Red Raiders up 17-6.
Jones’ good first quarter was followed by a second quarter he would soon like to forget. Even though he did not throw any interceptions, he looked rattled in the pocket and had trouble finding receivers open either downfield or in the flat.
Jones was sacked twice during the second quarter, and competed two of seven passes for 13 yards.
The touchdown-less first half marks the sixth straight quarter on the road where OU failed to put the ball in the end zone. The last road touchdown came on Oct. 24 in a 35-13 victory over Kansas.
The Sooners got the ball down 17-6 to start the third quarter and Jones came out throwing the ball. He completed two of his first three passes to sophomore wide receiver Ryan Broyles, who was limited to two catches for 21 yards in the first half, for 45 yards.
Despite the very early success the offense could not find a rhythm and wound up punting the ball away.
Freshman kicker Tress Way put OU’s defense by punting the ball to Texas Tech’s nine yard line, but the combination of big passes and long runs helped the Red Raiders’ offense drive 91 yards in six plays for a touchdown. Potts connected with Torres on a 24-yard pass to reach pay dirt and extend Texas Tech’s lead to three possessions.
Trying to dig themselves out of a deep hole, the Sooners continued to try to establish a passing attack in their second possession of the third quarter. But any chance of putting together some yards through the air early in the second half was quickly put aside with Jones’ only interception of the day.
The interception led to a 37-yard field goal by Williams that gave the Red Raiders a 27-6 lead.
While OU’s offense remained stagnant, the defense could not find an answer to Texas Tech’s high powered offense throughout the third quarter. The Red Raiders scored 10 points in the third quarter, but those points put the game in a position where the Sooners would not be able to come back from.
To add salt to the wound, the Red Raiders continued to attack OU’s defense to start the fourth quarter and increased their lead to an insurmountable 34-6 lead. Before the following kickoff, Jones AT&T Stadium’s stereo system wailed the opening notes of the song “Jump Around” as the players and fans jumped in unison in retaliation to last season’s 65-21 loss in Norman.
The Sooners had a chance to put their first touchdown on the board with a little over 12 minutes left in the fourth quarter, but Broyles took the ball out of the wildcat formation and threw an interception in the end zone. The interception was Broyles’ first pass attempt of his career.
Broyles’ redeemed himself later in the quarter with a 51-yard touchdown reception with 7:30 remaining in the game, but he was flagged 15 yards for a taunting penalty on the play.
“I know everyone is making a big deal about me celebrating, but I’m out there playing,” Broyles said. “I feel passionate about the game. It hurts even talking about it now.”
The Red Raiders added an exclamation-point touchdown with 47 seconds left in the game on a four-yard touchdown run by freshman running back Eric Stephens.
Jones finished the day completing 18 of 35 passes for 262 yards with one touchdown and an interception.
Under the opposing center, Potts put together a masterpiece of a game by throwing for 388 yards on 35 completions while tossing two touchdown passes and one interception. Eleven of those completions went to Torres who ended the afternoon with 163 receiving yards and one touchdown.
Despite the slow start, Broyles led the Sooners with seven receptions for 117 yards with a touchdown.
The Sooners’ running game was nonexistent throughout the day as junior running back DeMarco Murray and senior running back Chris Brown combined for 18 rushes for 51 yards – 37 yards for Brown and 14 yards for Murray. The team totaled 48 rushing yards.
Even though Texas Tech is known as a pass-happy team, it put together impressive rushing stats against a stingy OU run defense. Three Red Raiders runners combined tor 161 rushing yards on 35 attempts with three touchdowns.
Batch led all runners Saturday with 136 yards and two touchdowns.
“They executed it and blocked it better than we were able to get off blocks and tackle,” Stoops said. “They didn’t come up with any new run plays. It’s what we worked on the whole week and, again, they executed better than we were able to defend it.”
OU will have to regroup and prepare this upcoming week for the end-of-the-season Bedlam matchup against the Oklahoma State Cowboys. If the Sooners don’t come away with a victory next Saturday, they will end the season with a .500 winning percentage for the first time during the Stoops era.
The game is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. on Nov. 28 in Norman and can be seen on Fox Sports Network.
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