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

Safety Vaughnte Dorsey

Senior safety Vaughnte Dorsey had the game of his career and it came on a special night.  With his mother in the stands after making the 13-hour drive from Mississippi, Dorsey had 11 tackles, two interceptions and a half sack against the best offense in the nation.

Dorsey had an interception on each of the first two Oklahoma drives to help stake Tech to a 14-0 lead.  After a Tech punt on the game’s first drive, Dorsey intercepted Kyler Murray on the Sooners’ second play from scrimmage returning the ball 17 yards to the OU 3-yard-line.  On the next defensive series, he returned an interception 31 yards to the OU 25.

The interceptions were the first for Dorsey since he picked off a pass against Lamar in week two.  For his career, the former JUCO transfer now has four interceptions.

But at one point Saturday, it looked like the defensive back was in jeopardy of being ejected for targeting.  On the second OU drive, Dorsey was flagged for a helmet-to-helmet hit but after review, the flag was overturned (much to the surprise of most Texas Tech fans who feel that the judgement calls from officials have been slanted in the favor of the opponents in recent weeks).

That turned out to be a huge break for the Red Raiders as Dorsey turned in his best game as a Red Raiders.  His eleven tackles were a career high, topping the eight he had last week against Iowa State and last year against Baylor.

This year, Dorsey has been steady registering 33 tackles in eight games after putting up 59 tackles last year.  But in his last two games, he has complied 19 tackles and he appears to be trending the right direction as the season heads for the stretch run.