Texas Tech football: The most painful plays in Red Raider history
Alabama’s wounded duck field goal in 2006 Cotton Bowl
When Texas Tech football has played in the legendary Cotton Bowl Game, nothing but anguish has resulted. That was especially true in 2006 when the Red Raiders lost to Alabama 13-10 on one of the worst field goals in the history of college football.
This entire game was a beating as the two teams traded defensive blows all afternoon. And to make matters worse, the only Alabama TD of the day should not have counted as receiver Brodie Croyle‘s 76-yard first-quarter catch and run should have been called dead the moment he touched the ball as his knee was on the turf when he secured possession.
But it wasn’t and the play stood. Still, Tech was able to tie the game with 2:56 to play in the contest on a TD pass from Cody Hodges to Jarrett Hicks.
However, Bama drove into FG position with just five seconds to play. That’s when Jamie Christensen kicked a knuckleball that never got more than 12 feet off the ground but somehow sneaked inside the left upright from 45 yards out. (You can see just how cartoonish the kick was by watching this video.)
Being at the opposite end of the Cotton Bowl that day, I didn’t have the best vantage point and when I saw the ball come off of his foot, I began to cheer as I could not fathom such an ugly kick clearing the crossbar. Imagine how stunned I was when the Alabama fans near me started to celebrate.
Pain and frustration are what seems to happen to the Red Raiders in the Cotton Bowl Classic. Tech is 0-4 in the game that is one of the most historic of any bowl game and so dear to football fans across the Lone Star State.
However, this was a game that Tech deserved to win. Bama was erroneously awarded a TD that should not have counted and a kick as ugly as Christensen’s shouldn’t count for points. It’s like when a golfer knocks his approach shot into a tree only to have it bounce to within three feet of the hole. Of course, it did count and Bama was able to win as the Texas Tech football program’s woes in the Cotton Bowl added another disheartening chapter.