Texas Tech football classics: Red Raiders stun Sooners in Norman

Alex Torres has a career game

The player of the game (other than Doege) for the Red Raiders was Alex Torres.  The wide receiver from El Paso had his only three-touchdown game his career while averaging a career-best 23.5 yards per catch.

Though he made only four grabs on the night, he was a dominant factor.  Twice he scored on wide receiver screens where Tech caught the OU defense perfectly off guard.  His first score gave Tech an early 7-0 lead and his second extended Tech’s lead to 21-7 in the second quarter. After halftime, he caught his third TD of the game, an 11-yarder to push the advantage to 31-7.

That year, he would find the endzone only four times with his only other TD coming two weeks prior against Texas A&M.  And he would play only three more games in 2011 after the upset in Norman.  Over that time, he caught just 12 more passes.

In other words, this was an unexpected outburst from a receiver who was always a bit of a role player for Tech, rather than a star.  Torres never came close to a 1,000-yard season as his career-highs in receptions, yards, and TDs came in 2009 when he caught 67 passes for 806 yards and six scores.

But he will always be remembered as the hero of one of the Red Raiders’ greatest upsets.  With three touchdowns on the night, he certainly let the folks in Norman know just who he was while likely turning his name into a profanity in Sooner households.