Texas Tech football: What needs to happen for Red Raiders to upset UT

Tech gets a defensive score or a kick return TD

Sometimes upsets are sprung by teams that manage to come up with what we will call “unexpected scores”.  Those are touchdowns that come off of a turnover or a special teams play.  Often, such plays turn games and if Tech can come up with one this Saturday, it could lift the Red Raiders’ to a win or at least make this game one that is up for grabs.

We saw that happen in 2016 when the Longhorns came to Lubbock.  That year, safety Douglas Coleman stripped UT running back D’Onta Foreman at the goal line and returned the ball 99 yards for a TD in a truly remarkable play.

At the time, that play put the Red Raiders up 24-13.  And though the Horns would come back to win 45-37, that TD provided the team with enough of a spark to make that contest one that was in doubt in the final minutes.

https://twitter.com/TexasTechFB/status/796055023641907200?s=20

A year later, when No. 15 Oklahoma State came to Lubbock, the Red Raiders got another 90-plus yard defensive score.  That night, Damarcus Fields picked off Mason Rudolph and returned the ball 95 yards for a TD.  Again, Tech came up short in that game (41-34), but just like in the 2016 UT game, that defensive score helped the underdog Red Raiders stay in the game for the entire evening.

As for the kicking game, it has been a while since the Red Raiders managed to take a return back to the house.  In fact, the last kick return TD for the program came later in 2017 when Keke Coutee returned the opening kickoff against Baylor 92 yards for a score to spark Tech to a 38-24 win, one in which the Red Raiders never trailed.

Fans may recall that in some of Tech’s most memorable upsets, defensive or special teams scores played a major role.  In 2008’s defeat of No. 1 Texas, safety Daniel Charbonnet had a pick-six in the third quarter.  In 2002’s upset of Texas A&M at Kyle Field, Wes Welker returned a put for a TD in the fourth quarter.  A kickoff return TD by Reginald Davis in Tech’s 37-23 win over No. 14 Arizona State in the 2013 Holiday Bowl turned the tide for Tech after the Sun Devils had scored to cut Tech’s lead to 27-20.

So perhaps another unexpected TD is in store for the Red Raiders on Saturday.  And if they get one, history suggests that it will at least make the contest rather intriguing.