Texas Tech football: Dorsey, Ward, Wesley earn game balls vs. OU

The Texas Tech football team lost to Oklahoma 51-46 in a shootout Saturday night in Lubbock but Antoine Wesley, Da’Leon Ward and Vaughnte Dorsey came up big in the losing effort.

Once again, the Texas Tech football team fell short of what could have been a signature home win for Kliff Kingsbury.  Saturday night’s 51-46 loss to Oklahoma, like so many recent home losses, will leave a bitter taste in the mouth of Red Raider fans.

Leading 31-28 at halftime, the Red Raiders went toe-to-toe with the No. 7 Sooners despite losing three starters over the course of the game.  Tech saw starting middle linebacker Dakota Allen leave the game in the first quarter with a knee injury, quarterback Alan Bowman fail to return after halftime with a collapsed lung and right guard Jacob Hines leave the game in the second half with a knee injury that will cause him to miss the remainder of his senior season.

Still, Texas Tech was able to put a scare in the Sooners.  Tech pulled to within 42-40 in the fourth quarter but could not come up with a 2-point conversion to tie the game.  Instead, OU returned an interception on the conversion attempt for a score to go up 44-40.  The Red Raiders would not be able to come any closer for the rest of the game.

There were a number of Red Raiders that played well in front of the capacity home crowd.  On offense, T.J. Vasher was solid with six receptions for 47 yards and a touchdown.

Defensively, safety Jah’Shawn Johnson registered 10 tackles while linebacker Jordyn Brooks had nine stops.  Corner Damarcus Fields was credited with four tackles and two passes defended while squaring off with the Sooners’ explosive receivers.  Also, punted Dominic Panazzolo averaged over 49 yards on five punts with two downed inside the five-yard-line.

But three Red Raiders stood out from the rest and had fantastic games.  Let’s take a look at who earned our mythical but invaluable game balls for this week.