Texas Tech football: Ranking the 10 best QB seasons of “Air Raid” era

No. 5: Kingsbury in 2002

The man who recruited Mahomes to Lubbock and who groomed him as a college QB, Kliff Kingsbury, was no slouch as a passer in his own right.  But the only year in which he surpassed the 4,000-yard plateau was in his senior season of 2002.

That year, he tossed for 5,017 yards, 45 TDs, and 13 picks.  That was an increase of over 1,500 yards from his junior season output.

He was also asked to put the ball in the air an unthinkable 50.8 times per game.  That should illustrate just how much of a burden he carried for his team that year.  In fact, he threw the ball 70 times in a win against Missouri as well as 59 times in a stunning comeback win over A&M on the road.

But his signature moment came against the Longhorns.  In his final home game, Kingsbury threw for 473 yards and 6 touchdowns as Tech upset the No. 3 team in the nation.

The recipient of that year’s Sammy Baugh Trophy as the most outstanding passer in the nation, he led the NCAA in completions, attempts, passing TDs, total yards, and TDs responsible for.  And that was truly the year that the “Air Raid” started to take the NCAA by storm.

Previously, it has been a bit of a work in progress for Leach as he tried to implement his radical new passing attack at a school that had been known for its running game and defense for as long as it had played football.  But with a senior QB, who had three years experience in the system, calling the shots, Tech was able to begin showing the nation what the “Air Raid” was capable of.