College Football Old School Game of the Week: Crabtree's Last Second TD Gives Texas Tech Win over Texas

 

Texas Tech wide receiver Michael Crabtree goes in for the game-winning touchdown in the final seconds of the Red Raiders' win over #1 Texas in 2008.

When Texas Tech meet intrastate rival Texas on November 1, 2008, it was the biggest game in Texas Tech football history.

Texas Tech entered the game with a 8-0 record and ranked #5 in the coaches poll, #6 in the BCS rankings, and #7 in the AP poll while Texas also entered with a 8-0 record and ranked #1 in all three polls.

ESPN's College Gameday was in Lubbock for the game and the game was to be broadcast on ABC's Saturday Night Football.

What fans got was one of the all-time greatest finishes in college football history and easily the greatest moment in Texas Tech football history.

Texas Tech was coached by Mike Leach, who had been in Lubbock as the Red Raiders' head coach since 2000 and led the Red Raiders to eight straight winning seasons and eight straight bowl games with a passing attack that often ranked #1 in the country each season.

Leach's lineage of quarterbacks included future Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury, B.J. Symons, Sonny Combie, Cody Hodges, and Graham Harrell, who was in his third season as the starting quarterback of the Red Raiders.

Texas Tech also had the best wide receiver in the country in redshirt sophomore Michael Crabtree, who had won the Fred Biletnikoff Award the year before, given to the best collegiate wide receiver, after catching 134 passes for 1,962 yards and 22 touchdowns.

Even though they were facing the most dynamic passing offense in the country, the Longhorns felt confident they could be with the Red Raiders as their offense was led by junior Colt McCoy, whose completion percentage was over 75% at this point in the season and had led Texas to a 45-35 win over Oklahoma earlier in the season.

Most fans expected a Texas-style shootout and they would not be disappointed.

The Red Raiders got the ball to start the game and drove from their 19-yard-line to the Longhorns' 35-yard-line until Harrell was sacked by Texas defensive tackle Roy Miller for a nine-yard loss on 3rd & 4, forcing Texas Tech to punt the ball away.

Jonathan LaCour's punt would be downed at the two-yard-line which would lead to Red Raiders defensive tackle Colby Whitlock tackling Texas running back Chris Ogbonnaya for a safety to give Texas Tech a 2-0 lead and the ball back after the Longhorns' kickoff from their 20-yard-line.

The Red Raiders would get the ball back at their 36-yard-line as they would drive 52 yards in 11 plays as Harrell connected with Crabtree for two passes totaling 33 yards, all leading to a 29-yard field goal by Matt Williams to increase Texas Tech's lead to 5-0 with 6:47 left in the first quarter.

After forcing a Texas punt, the Red Raiders were pinned back in front of their end zone as they took over at their four-yard-line, only picking up two yards on the first two plays of the drive.

But on 3rd & 8 from the six-yard-line, Harrell found Edward Britton for a 46-yard completion to get the Red Raiders out of the hole and to the Texas 46-yard-line.

Seven plays later, the Red Raiders were in the end zone as Brian Batch punched it in from three yards out to give Texas Tech a 12-0 lead as the first quarter came to a close.

Things would not get better for the Longhorns as the second quarter began as the Texas offense went three-and-out on thier next offensive possession, which was followed up by giving up another touchdown as the Red Raiders drove 83 yard in eight plays, culminating with a 18-yard touchdown pass from Harrell to Eric Morris to increase the Texas Tech lead to 19-0.

Texas Tech quarterback Graham Harrell completed 36 of 53 passes for 473 yards and threw two touchdowns.

It seemed like the game was poised to be a blowout as the Texas offense went three-and-out on their ensuing possession, punting the ball back to the red hot Texas Tech offense who took over at its 14-yard-line as Harrell found Crabtree for a 15-yard gain on the first play of the drive, only to have Longhorns linebacker Sergio Kindle knocked the ball loose to force a fumble which was recovered by cornerback Aaron Williams at the Red Raiders' 29-yard-line.

The Longhorns would convert the fumble into three points as Hunter Lawrence made a 43-yard field goal to put Texas on the scoreboard with 5:27 left in the first half.

The Red Raiders would respond with an eight-play, 46-yard drive which ended with a 31-yard field goal by Matt Williams to push Texas Tech's lead back to 19 points at 22-3 with 97 seconds left before halftime.

The Longhorns would get the ball back following a touchback on the ensuing kickoff and put together their best drive of the first half as they drove 72 yards in 10 plays, with the big play of the drive coming on a 44-yard pass from McCoy to Malcolm Williams to help set up a 25-yard field goal by Lawrence as time expired in the first half with Texas Tech on top 22-6.

The Longhorns got the ball to start the second half but would were forced to punt the ball back to the Red Raiders, who took over at their one-yard-line following a 61-yard punt by Justin Tucker.

Three straight runs by Shannon Woods picked up eight yards leading to a Texas Tech punt which was returned 45 yards for a touchdown by Jordan Shipley to give Texas its first touchdown of the game and cut the lead to 22-13.

The punt return TD seemed to give the Longhorns some momentum especially after they forced another Texas Tech punt on their next possession, only to have McCoy be intercepted by Red Raiders strong safety Daniel Charbonnet who returned it 18 yards for a pick-six and increase the Texas Tech to 29-13 midway through the third quarter.

Following an exchange of punts, the Longhorns got the ball at their 42-yard-line where it seemed Texas Tech was poised to get the ball as it appeared the defense had forced a three-and-out as a McCoy pass for Dan Buckner fell incomplete, only to have Red Raiders cornerback Jamar Wall be called for pass interference to give Texas a 1st down at the Texas Tech 48-yard-line.

Three plays later, McCoy hit Malcolm Williams for a 37-yard touchdown to bring the Longhorns to within 10 points at 29-19 as Brown decided to go for the two-point conversion to make it an one-score game.

McCoy's two-point pass fell incomplete to keep it 29-19 with 12 seconds left in the third quarter.

Texas Tech would take over at its 20-yard-line and quickly drive into Longhorns territory as Harrell completed a 12-yard pass to Adam James on the final play of the third quarter, which was followed by a 34-yard pass to Britton to give Texas Tech a 1st down at the Texas 34-yard-line.

Harrell and Britton would connect again, this time for 13 yards on 3rd & 1 to give the Red Raiders a 1st down at the Texas 12-yard-line.

However, the drive would stall as Harrell would be sacked for a 16-yard loss on 3rd & 7 to force a 42-yard field goal attempt by Matt Williams, only to have it blocked by Kindle to keep it a 29-19 game.

An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after the blocked field goal pushed the Longhorns back to their nine-yard-line, but it would not be a deterrent as on the first play from scrimmage, McCoy would connect with Malcolm Williams for a 91-yard touchdown that stunned the stunned crowd in Lubbock and brought the Longhorns to within a field goal at 29-26 with exactly 11 minutes to go in the fourth quarter.

Texas quarterback Colt McCoy completed 20 of 34 passes for 294 yards and threw two touchdowns.

Following a touchback on the ensuing kickoff, the Red Raiders would drive from their 20-yard-line to the Texas 10-yard-line as Harrell would complete four passes in a row for 58 yards, three of those to Britton for 36 yards.

But a pass interference penalty on Crabtree and three straight incomplete passes would force a 42-yard field goal attempt by Donnie Carona instead of Matt Williams.

Carona would make the kick to push the Red Raiders' lead to 32-26 with 5:45 to go in the fourth quarter.

Texas would get the ball back at its 20-yard-line as McCoy threw an incomplete pass on 1st down, followed by a five-yard pass to running back Fozzy Whitaker to set up a critical 3rd & 5.

That is when McCoy found Brandon Collins for 14 yards and a 1st down at the Texas' 39-yard-line which was followed up by a 21-yard run by Whitaker for another Texas 1st down inside Texas Tech territory at the Red Raiders' 40-yard-line.

The Longhorns would get their third 1st down in a row as McCoy completed a 10-yard pass to Shipley, which was followed a pair of running plays that gained 11 yards for another 1st down at the Texas Tech 19-yard-line.

McCoy would then find Shipley for an eight-yard pass, then run for six yards to set up 1st & goal at the Red Raiders' five-yard-line.

After Whitaker was stopped after an one-yard run, McCoy handed the ball off Vondrell McGee, who ran it in for the four-yard touchdown to tie the game.

Lawrence would come on and kick the go-ahead extra point to give the Longhorns their first lead of the game at 33-32 with 1:29 left in the game.

After Jamar Wall returned the ensuing kickoff 38 yards, the Red Raiders took over at their 38-yard-line needing only a field goal to knock off #1 Texas.

The drive began with an eight-yard pass from Harrell to Baron Batch, which was followed by back-to-back completions to Detron Lewis totaling 16 yards and giving Texas Tech a 1st down at the Texas 38-yard-line.

Harrell would then connect with Britton for 10 more yards and another 1st down at the Texas 28-yard-line with 15 seconds left.

Even though they were in field goal range, the Red Raiders still felt they needed more yards in order to make a game-winning field goal more feasible so Harrell threw another pass when disaster nearly struck.

Harrell was looking for Britton again when the pass was tipped by Texas safety Blake Gideon, bouncing the ball into air and seemingly heading into the arms of Gideon, only for Gideon to drop it.

If Gideon had made the interception, the game would have been over and the Longhorns would escape with the win.

Instead, the Red Raiders were given a reprieve with eight seconds left.

That is when it happened.

Harrell took the snap and lofted a pass toward the right sideline for Crabtree, who was surrounded by two Texas defenders including Longhorns cornerback Curtis Brown.

Crabtree was able to keep his feet in bounds as he made the catch at the six-yard-line, then broke the tackle of Brown, to run into the endzone with one second to go.

Crabtree's touchdown sent the Red Raiders crowd into a frenzy as they stormed onto the field after assuming the game was over, only to realize there was one second left and that referees needed to review the play to make sure Crabtree had not stepped out of bounds as he made the catch on his run to the end zone.

When the referees came back to signal touchdown, Texas Tech fans rushed the field for a second time, which lead two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties being called on the Red Raiders, meaning they would have to kick off the ball from their own seven-yard-line, which gave Texas one last chance at pulling off a miracle as Matt Williams made the extra point to make it 39-33.

Carona's kickoff only traveled 38 yards to the Texas Tech 45-yard-line where it was picked up by D.J. Monroe who ran it five yards before being tackled by Charbonnet as time expired and causing the Texas Tech fans to run onto the field for a third time, only this time they were not penalized as their beloved Red Raiders had come away with the 39-33 win.

Following the win, Texas Tech vaulted to #2 in the AP and BCS rankings while Texas dropped to #4 in the BCS ranking and #5 in the AP poll.

Texas Tech would blow out Oklahoma State 56-20 the following week but two weeks later would be trounced by Oklahoma 65-21.

Tech, along with Texas and Oklahoma would finish in a three-way tie for the Big 12 South title but with head-to-head tiebreaker being obsolete, the BCS rankings determined the division champion which was Oklahoma who finished #2 in the BCS rankings the week before the Big 12 championship game.

While Oklahoma would win the Big 12 and advance to the BCS National Championship Game, which they lost 24-10 to Florida, Texas would play in the Fiesta Bowl where they defeated the Ohio State Buckeyes 24-21.

Meanwhile, Texas Tech had to settle for the Cotton Bowl where they would be upset by the Ole Miss Rebels 47-34 to finish with a 11-2 record, best in school history.