Texas Tech football classics: Red Raiders stun Aggies in 2002

The third facet of the game was what told the story

Any coach that wants to show his team how special teams can impact a game should use this classic as a reference point.  In the end, special teams cost Texas A&M a game that it controlled for 45 of 60 minutes.

Of course, the most egregious mistakes came from placekicker John Pierson, who missed two of his five extra-point attempts.  His miss after the Aggies’ final TD of regulation meant that Tech did not have to find the end zone but could tie the game with a field goal and that’s exactly what transpired.

His second miss came on his next attempt as he left the door wide open for Tech in overtime.  Had he made that kick, we could have been in for one of those long college football OTs that span multiple periods.  On a day where the temperature was near 90 and the humidity was over 60%, all of us in attendance were glad that did not happen.

But don’t overlook the blunder by Aggie punter Cody Scates on the Welker punt return because he did his team no favors by hitting a low line drive.  Not only did he outkick his coverage, but he also had very little hang time on the ball which prevented his coverage team from being able to get to Wekler as quickly as necessary.

It also seemed strange that Scates kicked the ball right to Welker at all given that Welker had already had had two other punt returns of over 20 yards, each time coming within an eyelash of breaking free for another score.  Knowing that Welker was the best punt returner in the sport, Scates would have been better served to punt the ball away from him or intentionally try to kick it as high as possible, even if it would have been a shorter punt.

Meanwhile, Tech’s special teams were excellent.  Treece was 4-4 on extra-point opportunities and 2-3 on field-goal attempts, including the game-tying kick on the last play of the 4th quarter.   That season, he was a perfect 54-54 on extra points and 13-19 on field goals.  He still ranks third in program history with a career FG percentage of 72.4.  And after the game, he took a shot at the struggles of his counterpart.

"“In my head, I like to think extra points are guaranteed,”  Treece said. “High school kids and junior high kids make them all the time. I knew [the last extra point] was good. There’s no greater feeling than helping your team, especially over the Aggies.”"

As we have discussed, Welker was the special teams hero that day.  But across the board, Tech had a huge advantage in the kicking game.

When you consider that Tech lost the turnover battle 3-1, there’s no doubt that the special teams units helped make up for that deficit.  In a game that saw Tech outplayed for the majority of the afternoon, the third side of the ball made all the difference.