Texas Tech hadn’t won a football game in Austin since 1997. Saturday night, in poor weather conditions, Kliff Kingsbury’s Red Raiders broke that streak with a 48-45 win over the Longhorns in a shootout of epic proportions.
True freshman running back Chris Warren was the star of the night for the Longhorns, rushing for 276 yards and 4 touchdowns in his first career start. Prior to Saturday’s contest against Texas Tech Warren had just 18 carries on 88 yards this season.
The Longhorns racked up a total of 403 rushing yards but couldn’t manage to get the passing game going all night. Starting quarterback Jerrod Heard left the game early due to an apparent head injury, leaving the door open for backup quarterback Tyrone Swoopes.
Swoopes finished 9-18 through the air for 52 yards and one interception, and rushed 15 times for 98 yards and two touchdowns.
Texas Tech quarterback Pat Mahomes slung it around, throwing for 372 yards and one touchdown. He also rushed for 70 yards on 16 carries for a touchdown
.
Red Raider running back DeAndre Washington rushed for 173 yards and two touchdowns in the win.
The 93 points scored was the most between the two teams since the 2007 season (102 points).
In addition to Jerrod Heard, there were a host of Texas players that sustained injuries. Malik Jefferson, Naashon Hughes, Kirk Johnson, Hassan Ridgeway and Peter Jinkens at various points in the game were forced to come out due to injury.
With the loss the Longhorns fall to 4-7 on the season with a finale against Baylor looming next Saturday.
For the second consecutive year Texas will suffer a losing season under head coach Charlie Strong.