Oklahoma State University Athletics

Texas Tech Rallies To Defeat Cowboys 30-24
November 20, 2006 | Cowboy Football
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) -- Mike Leach wondered when his Texas Tech team would wake up Saturday.
It took almost a half but the Red Raiders finally came to and beat Oklahoma State 30-24.
"Early in the game, we weren't ready to go," Leach said. "It all goes to why you don't play football games every day or three-game series against teams. It's hard to get that intensity every time."
threw for 353 yards and two touchdowns to lead Tech. The Red Raiders rallied from an early 17-0 deficit, scoring on five straight possessions to take a 27-17 lead late in the third quarter.
Down 30-24, the Cowboys had a chance in the final minute but threw an incompletion into the end zone as time expired.
"I was hoping we'd whack him before he was able to throw it," Leach said. "Then I was hoping we'd intercept it. Then I was satisfied with the fact that we batted it away."
Harrell, who completed 28-of-44 passes, threw TD passes of 24 and 8 yards. ran it in from 1 yard out and Alex Trlica kicked field goals of 28, 19 and 23 yards.
The Red Raiders (7-5, 4-4 Big 12) comeback was aided by poor field position for the Cowboys, whose first four possessions of the second half started inside their own 10-yard line. On the fourth drive, Oklahoma State (6-5, 3-4) drove 93 yards to close within 27-24 on a 34-yard touchdown pass to .
Trlica's final field goal with 4:46 remaining in the game gave Tech a six-point margin but the Cowboys still had time.
The spoiler was Tech defensive Darcel McBath who intercepted Reid at Tech's 35 yard line and returned the ball to OSU's 5-yard line.
But two penalties against Tech had the Red Raiders at their own 33. They couldn't sustain a drive and had to punt.
An inadvertent whistle by referees forced Tech to repunt but the Cowboys got back none of the time.
Referee Randy Christal said the replay came because no player on either team took possession on the punt.
"Therefore, by rule, we had no choice but to go back and replay the down," he said. "You must replay the down. You do not reset the clock."
OSU started at its own 23 with 1:16 remaining. Reid passed for 14 yards to and ran for another 9 before going out of the game with a minor injury. came in and hit on passes of 2 and 17 yards before Reid returned.
He ran for 14 and 4 yards before throwing incomplete into the end zone as the game ended.
"We dropped too many passes, had too many penalties on offense and had to start our offense on the 10 and 12-yard line," Cowboys coach Mike Gundy said. "That's why we lost the game."
Tech didn't get on track until late in the first half. The Red Raiders drew some boos from their fans when they ran the ball on third-and-goal from the Cowboys 7-yard line and Shannon Woods lost 4 yards. Tech settled for a field goal to close within 17-3.
On their final possession of the first half, Harrell and the Red Raiders started clicking down the field. Harrell completed 5-of-6 passes for 54 yards, including an 8-yard touchdown pass to Robert Johnson to whittle the deficit to 17-10 at halftime.
Johnson, who has been inconsistent this season, caught two TD passes. Leach said the receiver, who finished with 108 yards on eight catches, showed many sides Saturday.
"The unstoppable one, the fast one, the slow one, the dozy one," Leach said. "The fast, explosive one with all the intangibles is what we're showing for in the next game."
After a successful opening drive, Oklahoma State scored late in the first quarter on a turnover. Jeremy Nethon forced Tech's Danny Amendola to fumble a punt return. Six plays later, Cowboys quarterback Bobby Reid ran 16 yards for a touchdown to put OSU up 14-10.
Reid completed 11-of-31 passes for 145 yards and one touchdown.
Team Stats

OSU 7, TTU 0
OSU - Savage, D. 25 yd run (Ricks, Jason kick), 9 plays, 54 yards, TOP 2:53

OSU 14, TTU 0
OSU - Reid, Bobby 16 yd run (Ricks, Jason kick), 6 plays, 44 yards, TOP 3:25

OSU 17, TTU 0
OSU - Ricks, Jason 47 yd field goal 12 plays, 48 yards, TOP 3:38

OSU 17, TTU 3
TTU - Trlica, Alex 28 yd field goal 12 plays, 69 yards, TOP 5:32

OSU 17, TTU 10
TTU - Johnson, Robert 8 yd pass from Harrell, Graham (Trlica, Alex kick) 7 plays, 57 yards, TOP 1:11

OSU 17, TTU 17
TTU - Johnson, Robert 24 yd pass from Harrell, Graham (Trlica, Alex kick) 2 plays, 38 yards, TOP 0:48

OSU 17, TTU 24
TTU - Woods, Shannon 1 yd run (Trlica, Alex kick), 5 plays, 76 yards, TOP 1:26

OSU 17, TTU 27
TTU - Trlica, Alex 19 yd field goal 8 plays, 53 yards, TOP 1:24

OSU 24, TTU 27
OSU - Bowman, Adarius 34 yd pass from Reid, Bobby (Ricks, Jason kick) 13 plays, 93 yards, TOP 5:35

OSU 24, TTU 30
TTU - Trlica, Alex 23 yd field goal 5 plays, 50 yards, TOP 1:30