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Texas Tech football classics: Red Raiders stun Aggies in 2002

By Matthew Conner

NORMAN, OK - NOVEMBER 23: Wide receiver Nehemiah Glover #6 of the Texas Tech University Red Raiders carries the ball during against the University of Oklahoma Sooners during the game at Memorial Stadium on November 23, 2002 in Norman, Oklahoma. The Sooners won 60-15 to advance to the Big 12 Championship. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images)
NORMAN, OK - NOVEMBER 23: Wide receiver Nehemiah Glover #6 of the Texas Tech University Red Raiders carries the ball during against the University of Oklahoma Sooners during the game at Memorial Stadium on November 23, 2002 in Norman, Oklahoma. The Sooners won 60-15 to advance to the Big 12 Championship. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images) /
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. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images) /

This 4th quarter was not for the faint of heart

During the Leach era, Texas Tech fans lost years of their lives because of all the wild and heart-stopping 4th-quarter drama.  And this game provided one of the tensest final periods of all.

Trailing 35-17 to open the final 15 minutes, Tech converted a 4th-and-1 from its own 30 when Taurean Henderson took a pitch to the outside all the way to the A&M 41.  A few plays later, Kingsbury hit Welker down the seam for a 21-yard TD.  After an unsuccessful two-point try, Tech trailed 35-23.

On Tech’s next possession, Taurean Henderson took a shovel pass 15 yards to the endzone and Tech was within five points.  The ensuing Aggie possession actually crossed the 50 but back-to-back Red Raider sacks forced the punt that Welker took to the house to give Tech an eventual 3-point lead.

But though there were only three minutes to play, this 4th quarter was far from over.  On the next A&M drive, the Aggies retook the lead on a bizarre play in which tight end Greg Porter was stripped at the goal line only to see his teammates pounce on the loose ball in the endzone.  However, A&M missed the critical extra point meaning Tech was down just 3 points.

On Tech’s final drive, it actually looked for a moment like the Red Raiders had won the game with a touchdown pass from Kingsbury to Anton Paige with ten seconds remaining.  But just prior to the snap, Tech was flagged for a delay of game thus wiping out the play.

That forced Robert Treece to have to make a 42-yard field goal on the final snap of regulation to force overtime.  Fortunately, he was able to come up big in the clutch and extend the game.  It was a wild final period that left fans breathless as was so often the case in the 2000s when no Mike Leach team was ever out of a game.

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