Red Raiders snatch 37-34 win over Longhorns in OT

The Texas Tech Red Raiders won their fourth game of the season against the Texas Longhorns on Saturday with a score of 37-34, thanks to a game-winning field goal by kicker Trey Wolff in overtime. With the victory, the Red Raiders are on a 3-1 win-loss record, while the Longhorns are 2-2 this season.

Wolff, who kicked a 20-yard field goal, led the Red Raiders to win the game after they were left behind by a two-touchdown deficit in the second half.

The winning play from the Red Raiders started when the Longhorns running back Bijan Robinson fumbled on the first snap during the overtime. The Red Raiders’ QB Donovan Smith then made the play to the two-yard away from the end zone before the deciding field goal was kicked by Wolff.

Wolff kicked a 45-yard field goal for a 34-31 lead with 21 seconds left in the fourth quarter. However, the Longhorns made the offensive play from quarterback Hudson Card’s 28-yard pass when he threw a pass that was caught by WR Tarique Milton with six seconds remaining.

In the last two seconds, the Longhorns' kicker Bert Auburn tallied a 48-yard field goal to force the game to OT and the score went to 34-34.

Two years ago, the Red Raiders experienced a similar situation when they could not hold a 56-41 lead against the Longhorns. The Longhorns tied the game and the Red Raiders lost the game in overtime 63-56. The game did not end in the same result this year.

“Saw how much time they had left, so I was like, kind of slowing down the celebration,” Wolff said. “We’ve been in the situation with Texas where we’ve got to wait until the clock says zero, zero, zero. That’s what we did. Luckily we got that opportunity again in overtime.”

The Red Raiders won their Big 12 opener against the Longhorns, snapping a six-game losing streak when playing at home—and they did it with first-year coach Joey McGuire, who faced the Longhorns for the first time.

“I was asked at the end what it means to us,” McGuire said. “It means we’re 1-0 in the Big 12. I’m fired up to beat Texas. Don’t get me wrong. But I’m more fired up to be 1-0.”

The Red Raiders chased the score from 31-17 thanks to Robinson's play in the third quarter. McGuire’s offensive lineup tallied touchdowns from 10 plays, including a touchdown from Smith’s play. He ran backward for five yards on fourth down followed by throwing a 19-yard TD pass to Baylor Cupp to tie the game for 31-31.

“They forced us a little bit when they got up 31-17,” McGuire said. “They were huge. If we don’t do that, we don’t have enough time to get back in the game and definitely win the game.”

In this game, the Red Raiders converted six fourth downs out of eight attempts overall.

Sarkisian's response to Longhorns' loss

With the loss against the Red Raiders, the Longhorns experienced a similar situation when they lost their first three games in a six-game losing streak with head coach Steve Sarkisian debuted.

“Give Texas Tech a lot of credit,” Sarkisian said. “They played it aggressively. Our inability to get off the field was a real factor. And we couldn’t get their quarterback on the ground.”

The Longhorns did not include their starter Quinn Ewers, who suffered a high ankle sprain during the game against No. 1 Alabama. As Ewers’s replacement, Card threw for 277 yards and two touchdowns.

Despite making the error that led to the Longhorns' overtime loss, Robinson rushed for 101 yards and tallied two touchdowns.

For the Red Raiders, Smith threw for 331 yards and two touchdowns, while Myles Price tallied his career-high 13 passes received for 98 yards.