Texas Tech University Athletics
A Resilient Effort
September 24, 2011 | Football
The Red Raiders prevailed Saturday night in perhaps their toughest challenge of the season.
September 24, 2011
by Britton Drown
Texas Tech Athletics Communications
Head coach Tommy Tuberville called Saturday night a `gut performance' for his team. It wasn't quite the way he would have preferred his squad to capture their third win of the season, but they showed guts in the way they did it.
Even with four yards to go, in the midst of a broken play, junior quarterback Seth Doege scrambled out of the pocket, composed himself, and connected with a wide-open Eric Ward in the corner of the south end zone for the game-winning touchdown.
Just 36 seconds remained on the brightly illuminated scoreboard above him. The pivotal play happened in a chaotic, but perfect manner to tie the game at 34.
Donnie Carona kicked the extra point and gave the Red Raiders the 35-34 lead that would win them the game.
"It feels like a dream," Ward said with a smile after the game. "It feels great."
 | "I was proud of our guys. It was a huge character builder." - Tommy Tuberville |
"We held our poise tremendously." Tuberville said. "It wasn't pretty until he [Ward] caught it."
The game-winning play came on the heels of a nearly disastrous moment just before when a fumbled snap on third-and-goal pushed the Red Raiders back three yards to the four-yard-line. Suddenly, the game was further out of their grasp.
And so offensive coordinator Neal Brown called a timeout.
"We knew the game was going to be won or lost on that play," Brown said.
But he also understood the poise of Doege.
"He's a winner," he said.
And that's exactly what Doege did. He went out and won the game.
With the victory, the Red Raiders completed the non-conference portion of their schedule with an unblemished 3-0 record, and begin Big 12 play next weekend when they travel to Kansas.
In a resilient effort, Texas Tech outscored Nevada 14-6 in the final 10 minutes of the game to secure the win in front of 55,664 fans at Jones AT&T stadium.
"There is no reason we can't look at adversity in the face and defeat it." junior safety D.J. Johnson said.
Trailing 31-21 at the start of the fourth quarter, the Red Raider defense forced Nevada into consecutive field goals, while Doege and the Texas Tech offense slowly regained momentum.
For the second consecutive home contest, Texas Tech struggled to get its offense started. On the heels of an impressive 624-yard performance on the road against New Mexico, the Red Raiders took until midway through the second quarter to find the end zone when Doege connected with Ward on a two-yard strike to give the Red Raiders an early 7-0 lead.
"We've got to figure out a way to start," Brown said. "We just shot ourselves in the foot during the first half."
Nevada then responded, with 21 unanswered points.
Suddenly, the Red Raiders found themselves with their toughest task of the season. Nevada, and its signature pistol-set offense, amassed a total of 312 yards on the ground, and proved to be a tough unit to slow down.
But once the Red Raiders found their offensive rhythm, led by running back Eric Stephens who recorded a career-high 137 yards rushing on a career-high 26 attempts, the defense found a way step up.
Texas Tech pressured Nevada quarterback Tyler Lantrip, and late in the fourth quarter turned in perhaps the biggest play of the game. With 4:50 remaining in the fourth quarter, Texas Tech cornerback Jarvis Phillips broke up a pass from Lantrip in the end zone on a crucial third down. The breakup forced the Wolf Pack into a field goal.
"It was a great play," defensive coordinator Chad Glasgow said. "It probably gave us a chance to win the football game. When the game came down to the line, we found a way to go make a play."
While the gut-checking comeback wasn't quite the way Tuberville envisioned Saturday night playing out, he certainly learned much about the resolve of his team in the process.
"I was proud of our guys," he said. "It was a huge character builder,"
