Texas Tech University Athletics
Red Raiders Roll Into Waco To Take On Bears
October 22, 2001 | Football
Oct. 22, 2001
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RADIO
The All Sports Radio Network is in its sixth season of broadcasting Texas Tech football games on a network basis. The 27-station network covers the state of Texas and Eastern New Mexico. Brian Jensen (play-by-play), John Harris (color) and Mark Finkner (sideline) provide gameday coverage. The broadcast may also be heard via the Internet at www.texastech.com. All Texas Tech football games also are broadcast in Spanish via KXTQ in Lubbock. Mario Montez and Israel Aguilar provide commentary. The Spanish broadcast can also be heard on the Internet at www.texastech.com.
LAST WEEK FOR TEXAS TECH AND NEBRASKA
Texas Tech racked up 440 yards of total offense at No. 3 Nebraska in a 41-31 loss in Lincoln. Tech QB Kliff Kingsbury ran up 353 passing yards on the Huskers and threw for a touchdown. The Baylor Bears dropped its fourth-straight Big 12 Conference game of the season with a 33-17 loss at No. 2 Oklahoma.
THE TEXAS TECH-BAYLOR SERIES
The Red Raiders have won five-straight games in the series, all coming in Big 12 Conference play. The last Baylor win was a 9-7 victory in 1995, the final season of the Southwest Conference. Overall, the Bears lead the series 32-26-1.
RED RAIDER NOTEBOOK VS. NEBRASKA
Individual
- IR Wes Welker's 85-yard punt return for a touchdown is the third of his career and the longest (previous long was 66 yards). The last time Texas Tech returned a punt for a touchdown came during the 2000 season on Welker's 66-yard return against Kansas.
- QB Kliff Kingsbury is now Texas Tech's all-time completions leader with 580 completions. With his second completion against Nebraska, he passed Robert Hall (548 from 1990-'93) as the all-time leader.
- Kingsbury's 358 yards of total offense against the Huskers moved him into fourth place on Tech's all-time career total offense list with 5,829 yards. He passed Ron Reeves (1978-81) who had 5,544 career total offensive yards.
- Kingsbury's 25-yard run in the third quarter is the longest run of his career. His previous long was 22 yards against Oklahoma State on Nov. 11, 2000.
- RB Preston Hartfield's 20-yard pass to WR Carlos Francis was the first attempt and completion of his career.
- K Robert Treece's 42-yard field goal in the first quarter is a new career high (previous high of 35 yards was set on his first attempt of the game). Entering the game his career high was 33 yards set against New Mexico on Sept. 8, 2000.
- Treece's three field goals against NU is a career high.
- WR Anton Paige has caught a touchdown pass in two-consecutive games, his first career touchdown catch was against Kansas State two weeks ago.
- FS Kevin Curtis had a career high of two interceptions with one in the second quarter and one in the fourth quarter. Both were his first interceptions of the season. He has eight career interceptions and is one away from cracking the top 10 at Tech.
- RB Ricky Williams has five rushing touchdowns in six games this season, equaling his total of last season. Team
- Texas Tech's 31 points is the most points that Nebraska has given up in a game this season.
- Tech's 31 points is the most points that the Red Raiders have scored against Nebraska. The previous high was 27 scored back in 1993.
- The 28 points Tech scored in the first half was the most given up in a half by a Nebraska team since a 1988 game at UCLA.
- Tech's 440 yards of total offense was the most yielded by Nebraska this season. The previous high this season was 365 given up to Rice.
DEFENSE ALLOWING BREATHING ROOM
Following a rough first quarter, the Texas Tech defense buckled down in the second to give the Red Raider offense some breathing room. Nebraka amassed 224 yards of total offense in the opening frame, but managed only 86 yards in the second, allowing the Tech offense time to tie the game at 28-28 at halftime. In the second half, the defensive side limited the Huskers' high-powered offense to 13 points, including a lone field goal in the fourth quarter and 53 total yards in the final frame. On one of the biggest defensive plays of the night, FS Kevin Curtis picked off an Eric Crouch pass in the endzone at the beginning of the fourth quarter to halt an NU drive.
TECH NOTICES OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION OF LATE
Through the first four games of the season, Texas Tech averaged 372 yards of total offense per game, which ranked among the Big 12's best. However, in the last two games, the Red Raiders have surged offensively. Tech averaged 457.5 yards per game against Kansas State and Nebraska.
KINGSBURY RECORD WATCH CONTINUES
QB Kliff Kingsbury became the all-time completions leader at Texas Tech following his performance at Nebraska. Kingsbury's second completion of the night put him top, passing Robert Hall (548 completions from 1990-93). He has 580 career completions. Kingsbury also moved into a third-place tie with Billy Joe Tollvier with 38 career touchdown passes.
KINGSBURY SETS 400-YARD MARK
QB Kliff Kingsbury set the school record with his third 400-yard passing game in his career. Kingsbury threw for 409 yards against Kansas State to pass Robert Hall on the list.
ROBERTS FINDING NICHE IN SENIOR SEASON
Senior TE Cole Roberts is making the most of his senior season. He already has surpassed his career total of 12 catches coming into the season with 25 this year.
PATIENCE PAYS OFF FOR FRANCIS
WR Carlos Francis was averaging three catches per game heading into the Nebraska game. He finished the game with 11 receptions for a season- and game-high 169 yards. He is currently third on the team with 26 catches for 390 yards.
KICK RETURN GAME REMAINS SOLID
After returning a kickoff for a school record 108 yards against New Mexico, freshman KR Ivory McCann continues to turn in solid performances. He is averaging 27.3 yards per return on the season. Against the Huskers, McCann ran up 83 yards on three returns.
WALK-ON LIGHTING UP THE SCOREBOARD
K Robert Treece has been a pleasant surprise for the Red Raiders this season. With no clear-cut frontrunner for the job during the preseason, Treece walked-on the first day of school and won the job. He leads the team with 43 points and is a perfect 22-of-22 on extra points. He put 11 points on the board against the Huskers with a career-high three field goals and two extra points. He opened the season with a 10-point performance against New Mexico.
WELKER MADE UP FOR LOST TIME
Punt returner Wes Welker was in sort of a funk (16 returns for 61 yards in first five games) heading into the Nebraska game, but quickly made up for lost time. Welker took the first NU punt and returned it 85 yards for a touchdown. The return was the second-longest ever for an NU opponent and the third return for a touchdown in Welker's short career. He later returned another punt to the endzone, but had that one called back following a penalty when Tech was called for lining up offsides. He finished the game with three returns for 93 yards (31.0 yards per return).
RED RAIDERS DOMINATE FIRST-HALF SCORING
On the season, Texas Tech has outscored opponents 111-83 in the first half. However, the real damage has come in the second quarter. The Red Raiders have scored 74 points in the second frame, 32 point more than the next highest quarter (42 in the fourth this year). Tech holds a narrow 191-180 advantage in scoring over its opponents this season.
BIG 12 RUSHERS ROLLING TOWARD RECORDS
Led by senior Ricky Williams of Texas Tech as he continues his hard-earned comeback from near-career-ending knee surgery in September, 1999, active Big 12 rushers are climbing the charts after some excellent early performances. Williams became the fourth rusher since the founding of the Big 12 to surpass 3,000 career yards while Nebraska QB Eric Crouch continues to excel on the ground and in the air as the all-time Big 12 quarterback rushing pacesetter. ISU's Ennis Haywood used a 219-yard rushing day at Ohio on Sept. 22 to reach the 2,000-yard career mark. Kansas State's Josh Scobey became the seventh active Big 12 carrier to reach the 1,000-yard mark after his performance at Oklahoma on Sept. 29-16 games into his two-year KSU career.
Kingsbury Named to O'Brien Watch List
Junior quarterback Kliff Kingsbury was been named to the Davey O'Brien Foundation Watch List for the upcoming season. The award is presented annually to the nation's top college quarterback.
Joining Kingsbury on the list from the Big 12 is Eric Crouch (Nebraska), Mark Farris (Texas A&M) and Chris Simms (Texas).
The O'Brien Award is named in honor of the late Davey O'Brien, the All-American and Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback for Texas Christian University who led the Horned Frogs to the 1938 National Championship.
Curtis Named to Thorpe Award "Watch List"
Senior strong safety Kevin Curtis was been named to the Thorpe Award "Watch List" for the 2001 season. The Thorpe Award is presented annually to the nation's top defensive back.
Curtis also has received several preseason honors, including being named a second-team All-American by Street & Smith's. He also is listed as one of the top 10 collegiate safeties entering the 2001 season by Lindy's College Football.
The 6-foot-3, 223-pound Lubbock native finished second on the team last season with 121 tackles and fourth in the Big 12 Conference. His 368 career tackles ranks fifth all-time at Tech. He trails former Tech All-American Zach Thomas in third place by 22 tackles.
