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Counting Down The Best Wins Of The Kliff Kingsbury Era

By Matthew Conner

SAN DIEGO, CA - DECEMBER 30: Head Coach Kliff Kingsbury of the Texas Tech Red Raiders gets the Gatorade dump after his teams' 37-23 win over the Arizona State Sun Devils during their National University Holiday Bowl Game on December 30, 2013 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California. (Photo by Donald Miralle/Getty Images)
SAN DIEGO, CA - DECEMBER 30: Head Coach Kliff Kingsbury of the Texas Tech Red Raiders gets the Gatorade dump after his teams' 37-23 win over the Arizona State Sun Devils during their National University Holiday Bowl Game on December 30, 2013 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California. (Photo by Donald Miralle/Getty Images) /
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FORT WORTH, TX – OCTOBER 29: Patrick Mahomes II #5 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders runs for a first down on fourth against Mat Boesen #9 of the TCU Horned Frogs in the second half at Amon G. Carter Stadium on October 29, 2016 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
FORT WORTH, TX – OCTOBER 29: Patrick Mahomes II #5 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders runs for a first down on fourth against Mat Boesen #9 of the TCU Horned Frogs in the second half at Amon G. Carter Stadium on October 29, 2016 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /

No. 6: 2016 T.C.U.

The No. 6 best win in Kingsbury’s tenure was also a game that provided immense redemption following a demoralizing loss. Tech’s 27-24 double-OT win at T.C.U. was a huge statement for the program following the disastrous 2014 trip to Ft. Worth that saw Tech suffer the worst loss in program history, 82-27.

And to beat T.C.U. in 2016, Kingsbury had to rely on an unusual formula, defense and special teams.  Clayton Hatfield’s game-winning field goal in the second OT helped seal a win in which Tech allowed just 418 yards.

What made that performance so shocking was that it came only a week after allowing 854 yards to Oklahoma in a 66-59 home loss.  And given that Pat Mahomes and the Red Raider offense put up a pedestrian 345 total yards.

But while Mahomes was an uncharacteristic 24/39 passing for just 202 yards and two picks, he made crucial plays when needed.  His 15-yard TD scramble on a broken play gave Tech its first OT score.

But the win also featured some help from the Frogs.  In a script that Texas Tech fans became all-to-familiar with in 2017, T.C.U. missed three field goals on the afternoon including a 40-yard attempt in the second OT.

The win was important for Texas Tech on multiple fronts.  First, it allowed Kingsbury and his team to exorcise the demons of the 2014 game by beating an in-state rival in the same stadium from which they were laughed out of two years prior.

But second, the win helped ease the growing angst from a fan base that had started to grow frustrated by numerous embarrassing performances.  Beating T.C.U. carries more weight with Texas Tech alums than beating Iowa State or Kansas as it gives fans in the all-important DFW area a year’s worth of bragging rights.

Tech would win just one more game in 2016, beating Baylor in the final week of the season.  But by securing wins over T.C.U. and Baylor, programs Texas Tech fans feel are historically inferior to theirs, Kingsbury earned the slightest bit of good-will from a disappointing 5-7 season and kept some of the detractors at bay.

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