Texas Tech football: The most explosive games in Red Raider history
No. 2: 70 points vs. TCU in 2004
It’s tough to score 70 points against a good college football program as Tech did in 2004’s 70-35 victory over TCU in 2004. It’s almost impossible to score 56 unanswered.
That’s what Tech did after falling behind 21-0 in the first half at home to the Horned Frogs. Remember that at that time, TCU was still in the Mountain West and Gary Patterson’s team was using this game as an opportunity to prove to the rest of the nation that they were worthy of being considered more than just a nice program from a second-tier conference.
The Frogs came out with their hair on fire and stunned the sellout Jones Stadium crowd. But once QB Sonny Cumbie and his teammates got going, they unleashed a tsunami of points on the boys from Fort Worth.
After trailing by three TDs with just over eight minutes to go before halftime, Tech would come back to tie the game at 21-all heading into the intermission. But it was in the third quarter when this game turned in Tech’s favor.
Rattling off 28 points in that frame, Tech took ahold of the game for good. Cumbie began with a TD pass of four yards to Bristol Olomua, his second 4-yard TD reception of the day. Then Taurean Henderson scored on a six-yard TD run.
The defense got in on the action just minutes later as Key Dawson scooped up a fumble and scored from 17 yards out to put Tech ahead 42-21. RB Johnny Mack then ended the quarter with an 8-yard TD run and the blowout was in full effect.
On the day, Cumbie was 30 of 50 passing for 441 yards with four TDs and a pair of picks. His favorite target was Jarrett Hicks who had 8 catches for 211 yards and a score. Interestingly, he was the only Red Raider with more than 60 yards receiving that day, which is surprising given that Tech scored 10 TDs.
We should also mention the punt return work of Danny Amendola. That day, he returned five punts for an average of 20.8 yards and his 52-yard return in the second quarter was the game’s signature play as it truly turned the momentum Tech’s way by setting his team up for its second TD of the game by putting the ball at the TCU 3-yard-line.
It was important for Tech to win this game from a regional perspective because of the proximity between the two schools. But it was also critical from a national perspective given how people had come to view TCU as the darlings of the mid-major level. By putting a beat-down on the Frogs, Tech reminded the nation that Big 12 football was still at a higher level than TCU was ready to handle at the time, and what better way to hammer that point home than by putting 70 points on the scoreboard.