Wreck'Em Red
Fansided

Texas Tech football: The top 5 Red Raider moments of 2020

By Matthew Conner

Oct 31, 2020; Lubbock, Texas, USA; A Texas Tech Red Raiders football sits on the field before the game against the Oklahoma Sooners at Jones AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Michael C. Johnson-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 31, 2020; Lubbock, Texas, USA; A Texas Tech Red Raiders football sits on the field before the game against the Oklahoma Sooners at Jones AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Michael C. Johnson-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
5 of 6
Next
LUBBOCK, TEXAS – SEPTEMBER 26: Running back SaRodorick Thompson #4 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders runs for a touchdown during the second half of the college football game against the Texas Longhorns on September 26, 2020 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
LUBBOCK, TEXAS – SEPTEMBER 26: Running back SaRodorick Thompson #4 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders runs for a touchdown during the second half of the college football game against the Texas Longhorns on September 26, 2020 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images) /

No 2: SaRodorick Thompson goes 75 yards against Texas

There was one moment this year when everyone in Raiderland believed that 2020 was going to be special.  It was a moment when the Red Raiders appeared to be on the verge of turning their fortunes around and putting the current decade-long tailspin behind them.  Of course, it was just a fleeting moment and not one that had any staying power.  But still, it was magical as it unfolded.

With 3:40 to play in the second game of the season, Tech led No. 8 Texas 49-41 when the ball was handed to sophomore RB SaRodorick Thompson.  He then took the ball around the left side of the line, broke a couple of tackles, and scampered 75 yards for a touchdown to put his team up 56-41.

At the time, it appeared that this was going to be the play that finally brought Tech their first home win over UT since 2008 and which vaulted the Red Raiders back into relevance in the Big 12.  For the few fleeting seconds that it took to unfold, the hopes of the Red Raider fan base were as high as they have been since perhaps the first year of the Kingsbury era as it appeared like Tech was about to score its first top-10 victory since 2012.

Of course, we now know that Tech wouldn’t score again that day and would eventually fall to the Horns in overtime.  It was shocking how quickly things came unraveled that day and how fleeting our excitement for 2020 was as well.

But Thomspon had a nice season and when he was healthy, he proved this year that he has the ability to be a big-play running back.  In fact, he also had runs of 59 and 48 yards to go along with this memorable scamper.

Unfortunately, this play didn’t have the type of impact on the season that we thought it was going to when it happened.  But it did provide us with a glimmer of hope and a momentary jolt of adrenaline that was good enough to make it our no. 2 moment of the year.

Home/Texas Tech Football