Texas Tech University Athletics
Remembering Zach Thomas' Interception
October 05, 2011 | Football
Zach Thomas made one of the most memorable interceptions in program history.
Replay of the 1995 win over Texas A&M and Zach Thomas' interception
October 5, 2011
by Britton Drown
Texas Tech Athletics Communication
This was a game that meant something to Zach Thomas. For the senior linebacker, it was his last chance. The final opportunity to make the mark he always wanted to, in the rivalry game that he spent three years watching slip out of his hands.
Twice in College Station he came close, but two losses by a combined eight points sent Thomas and the Red Raiders home empty both times.
And there was the 31-6 blowout at home in 1993. Painfully, it separated both trips to Texas A&M, and only intensified his desire to end the losing streak to the Aggies.
In 1995, Texas A&M entered Lubbock with a No. 8 national ranking and riding a 29-game winning streak in Southwest Conference play.
"They were the top," Thomas said. "They had dominated the conference."
Still, that season, something felt different. Not only was it his final time to play Texas A&M, but it was, as he felt, their best chance to beat the Aggies.
Doing so would snap a losing streak that dated back to 1989.
"I knew we had a good team," Thomas said. "Going into that game I felt like we had a good enough of a team to play with anybody."
Even the Aggies.
 | "It's not so much about the great play, it's about how excited everyone was in the locker room, how excited the fans were. Tech fans are so loyal. They are definitely great fans and they deserved it. That's why I really cherished that moment in time and that's why I look back and I'm proud." - Zach Thomas |
It came late in the fourth quarter in front of a crowd of 51,205 at Jones AT&T Stadium. With the score tied 7-7, Texas A&M was driving down the field for one last shot at the end zone.
With just 30 seconds on the clock, quarterback Corey Pullig dropped back to pass and Thomas, who was showing blitz before the snap, dropped back into coverage.
"His eyes were just staring down his receiver." Thomas said.
Still, Pullig let the pass go, and Thomas stepped into the lane, pulled it out of the air at the 25-yard line, and began running the opposite direction down the sideline and towards the end zone.
"He practically threw it right to me," Thomas added. "And there it was, it was a race to the end zone."
Thomas won that race. Really, nobody was going to stop him. Nobody was going to take this moment, this victory out of his hands. Not this time.
That race to the end zone put an end to the five-year losing streak, and as Thomas so desperately wanted, gave him his first and only win over Texas A&M with a 14-7 victory.
For Thomas, it was worth the wait.
"For that to come the way it did and play out the way it did, I couldn't ask for anything more," Thomas said. "That's what I remember. It's not so much about the great play, it's about how excited everyone was in the locker room, how excited the fans were. Tech fans are so loyal. They are definitely great fans and they deserved it. That's why I really cherished that moment in time, and that's why I look back and I'm proud."
Even 16 years later, Thomas still recalls that play in a vivid form. It was a capstone on a prolific Texas Tech career, and following the conclusion of his college career, he was chosen in the fifth round of the NFL draft.
"My whole dream my whole life was to play NFL football, and I really feel like that got me recognized." Thomas said. "That's where it started."
Thomas played 14 seasons in the NFL for the Miami Dolphins and the Dallas Cowboys, where he was chosen to seven Pro Bowls and recorded over 1,000 tackles and 17 interceptions. The seven Pro Bowl selections were the most by a Miami Dolphin defender in organization history.
Thomas retired after playing one season with the Dallas Cowboys in 2008, and now lives in South Florida. He has two children, a 12-week-old daughter and a 21-month-old son.
He plans to return to Lubbock on Saturday night to watch the Red Raiders and Aggies play for the final time as Big 12 rivals. Even as his career catapulted into the NFL, Thomas never lost sight of where his career began. In order to ensure he remained connected to Lubbock, he partnered with the University Medical Center to open a gym, Zach's Club' at 78th and Quaker in 2008. It proved to be successful and led to a second gym opening in Amarillo, and a third is in the planning stages.
"It's great to stay connected." Thomas said. "You can easily, once you are away and it's been 15-16 years now, that you lose all of those memories. But I wont lose them."
And Texas Tech fans will surely never lose the memories that Thomas has brought to them either.
