Today’s Texas Tech football classic takes us back to 2011 when the Red Raiders upset No. 3 Oklahoma in Norman.
Though most Texas Tech football fans would love to forget the three-year Tommy Tuberville era, there were a couple of high points. The most memorable came in Tuberville’s second season when his team stunned the college football world by taking down Oklahoma in Norman 41-38.
It marked only the second time the Red Raiders have even won on the Sooners’ home field and put an end to Bob Stoops’ 39-game home winning streak, which dated back to 2005. Prior to that, the legendary OU head coach had been 75-2 in home games during his time in Norman.
Making this upset even more improbable was the fact that the Red Raiders were coming off back-to-back losses. Two weeks earlier, they were unable to erase an 11-point halftime deficit on their way to a 45-40 home loss to Texas A&M.
The next week, Tech was outscored 21-6 in the second half by No. 17 Kansas State to drop a 41-34 decision on their home field. In other words, the team was not firing on all cylinders when the trip to Norman arrived.
So of course, the Red Raiders played their best game of the year in the most difficult road environment in the Big 12. Jumping out to a 24-7 halftime lead and eventually putting OU into a 31-7 hole, the Red Raiders shocked the college football world on a day defined by chaos in at the top of the polls as a second top-5 team fell to an unranked opponent following a loss by No. 4 Wisconsin. For what it’s worth, OU was actually No. 1 in the coach’s poll at the time, a fact that was not lost on Tuberville.
"“It’s one game, but it’s a huge game for recruiting, for national stature. Obviously, you don’t read too much about Texas Tech,” he said after the win. “For some reason, I haven’t seen much on TV. I bet you see it the next few days. We’re going to be proud of that. When you go on the road and beat a No. 1 team (in the coaches’ poll), it’s really special. That’s almost impossible to do.”"
Unfortunately, Tech wasn’t able to capitalize on that landmark win though. The next week, the Red Raiders would return home and fall flat on their collective faces in a 41-7 loss to an Iowa State team that entered the game just 3-4 on the year.
That would begin a five-game slide to end 2011 forcing the Red Raiders to miss out on a bowl game for the first time since 1999 and fail to reach bowl eligibility for the first time in the existence of the Big 12. Prior to that, the Red Raiders had been the only program in the conference that had been bowl eligible every year of the conference’s lifespan.
But let’s not dwell on that unfortunate aspect of the 2011 season. Instead, let’s enjoy looking back at one of the most improbable wins in Texas Tech football history. And we’ll start by giving a thankful nod to Mother Nature. (For a condensed version of this game, click here.)