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Texas Tech football classics: “Air Raid” era born as Tech tops OU in 1999

By Matthew Conner

STILLWATER, OK - SEPTEMBER 25: The Texas Tech Red Raiders flag flies outside the stadium before the game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys September 25, 2014 at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The Cowboys defeated the Red Raiders 45-35. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images)
STILLWATER, OK - SEPTEMBER 25: The Texas Tech Red Raiders flag flies outside the stadium before the game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys September 25, 2014 at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The Cowboys defeated the Red Raiders 45-35. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

This game featured a bushel of future college head coaches

The reason you could say that the “Air Raid” was birthed during this game is because of the fascinating collection of current and future head coaches in the stadium that day.  And besides Dykes, all of them would go on to be disciples of the spread offense.

Of course, Stoops was the biggest name at Jones Stadium that day but at the time, he was just a first-year head coach who had never been at the helm of a college program. 190 wins, 10 Big 12 titles, and one national championship later, he is one of the most legendary coaches in NCAA history.  And for his entire career at OU, he rode an offense that utilized the principals of the “Air Raid”.

The pioneer of the “Air Raid” movement was Leach, who saw his offense somewhat befuddled by a hard-hitting Red Raider defense that took the fight to the Sooners all day.  OU did have 352 passing and 401 total yards but three turnovers proved to be fatal.

Just weeks later, Leach would be put in charge of the Tech program where his offensive system would guide the Red Raiders to and 84-43 record in ten seasons, surpassing Dykes’ win total in his final game with the Red Raiders, coincidentally also against Oklahoma.  Leach has a career coaching record of 133-83 in his career with 14 bowl appearances and he has to be credited as the harbinger of the seismic offensive shift that has consumed college football.

As we all know, that young redshirt freshman QB who stole the show for the Red Raiders that day would also become a Red Raider head coach.  Unfortunately, Kliff Kingsbury did not have the same type of success as a head coach that Leach did going just 35-40 in six seasons at Tech.  But after being fired last fall, he’s now going to try to revolutionize the NFL with the “Air Raid” the way Leach revolutionized the college ranks.

Playing fullback that day for the Sooners was Seth Littrell.  He is currently the head coach at North Texas where he’s turned around one of the nation’s most woeful programs.  Going 23-17 overall, he’s taken the Mean Green to three-straight bowl games and is one of the most desired up-and-coming head coaches in the game.

Not to be outdone by Tech’s QB, OU’s starter Josh Heupel has also gone on to a notable head coaching career.  In 2018 he led Central Florida to a 12-1 record, an AAC title, and a trip to the Fiesta Bowl in his first season as a head coach

Also on the OU sideline that day was a first-year defensive coordinator named Brent Venables who has not become a head coach yet but is the most highly-regarded defensive coordinator in the game.  Certainly, he will eventually leave Clemson to be a head coach and when he does, he will have his pick of jobs.

This was quite the rendezvous of trend-setting offensive minds.  In what proved to be the final game of the 1990s for the Red Raiders, many of the men that would come to influence the next two decades of the Big 12 and the NCAA were all matching wits in this classic Texas Tech win.

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