Counting Down The Best Wins Of The Kliff Kingsbury Era

No. 3: 2015 Arkansas

In what has been a fairly common theme during Kingsbury’s career, he was able to exact a significant measure of revenge when Texas Tech knocked off Arkansas in Fayetteville 35-24 in 2015.  The previous season, the Hogs ran wild in Lubbock en route to a 21-point win.

The 2015 win saw Tech’s defense give up 210 fewer rushing yards to Arkansas than in the previous year’s matchup.  And the Red Raider defense punctuated the win with a fantastic strip of Arkansas running back Alex Collins by safety Jah’Shawn Johnson who was giving up almost 30 pounds in the exchange.

Offensively, Tech made just enough big plays to pull out the win.  Pat Mahomes threw for 231 yards and a touchdown and ran for 58 yards and two more scores.

But it was a TD pass from an unlikely source that broke the game open.  With the game tied 14-14 in the second quarter, Jakeem Grant threw a 71-yard TD pass to Reginald Davis off a lateral to give Tech the lead for good.

It was a play Tech had been practicing without much success for some time but Kingsbury’s roll of the dice paid off.  In the celebration after the play, television cameras caught Kingsbury saying “I can’t believe it worked.”

But while the game was memorable for the Red Raiders as they knocked of an SEC team at home, the most memorable moment came during Kingsbury’s post-game press conference.

Wearing a tailored suit with a boutonniere, Kingsbury bragged about kicking Arkansas’ “ass” after hearing Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema make remarks several years prior at a coaching convention about spread teams not being able compete with his power running style.

The remarks received national attention and drew return fire from the feisty Bielema but Kingsbury had the last laugh.  But controversy aside, the win was a significant one for Kingsbury.

Beating an SEC foe on the road was a tremendous accomplishment for a coach coming off a 4-win season.  It was also a sign that Kingsbury’s teams can play tough physical football.

Additionally, this game marked the first significant win of the Pat Mahomes run.  The sophomore  displayed the toughness that he would become known for while using his legs to break the game open with two touchdown runs.

The win put Tech at 3-0 to start the season, half-way to bowl eligibility, in a season that Kingsbury needed to reach a bowl to avoid being the first Texas Tech coach in two decades to miss a bowl for two-consecutive seasons.