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Looking back at Texas Tech football's most agonizing finishes
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- Looking back at Texas Tech football's most agonizing finishes
The Texas Tech football team's 35-34 loss Saturday at TCU was the Red Raiders ' most stunning outcome of the season. The Red Raiders led 31-14, got burned by two long passes late in the fourth quarter and fumbled away a chance at a game-winning field goal.
The feeling wasn't new for long-suffering Tech fans. Here are some of the other most agonizing endings in modern Tech football history, sorted by category. All were close games. The Red Raiders led in nearly every one, and most were decided in the final minute. All the games were at Jones Stadium unless indicated otherwise.
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Craziest plays
1982: SMU 34, Texas Tech 27
Blane Smith threw a cross-field lateral to Bobby Leach, who returned a Tech kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown with four seconds left, moving No. 2 SMU to 10-0 and dropping Tech to 4-6. Ricky Gann's 28-yard field goal tied the game at 27 with 17 seconds left.
Tech led:10-7 late in the second quarter.
Remembered for:Alan Lowry, a Dallas Cowboys assistant at the time, filed the trick-play return in his memory. Eighteen years later, as special teams coach for the Tennessee Titans , Lowry deployed it for the "Music City Miracle".
More: The Music City Miracle: An oral history of one of NFL's most memorable plays
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More: Tech's most compelling moments vs. Top 5 competition
2015: TCU 55, Tech 52
Running back Aaron Green caught a tipped pass for a 4-yard touchdown with 23 seconds left, and No. 3 TCU escaped in a game that featured 10 lead changes.
Tech led:52-48 after Justin Stockton caught a 50-yard TD pass with 5:55 to go.
Remembered for:The final touchdown. TCU QB Trevone Boykin threw behind wide receiver Josh Doctson , but Doctson got a hand on the ball and Green snaked behind him, caught it and got a foot down at the back of the end zone.
More: Williams: Red Raiders' loss to TCU a huge missed chance
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Kicks that killed
1985: Rice 29, Tech 27
James Hamrick kicked a Rice record 57-yard field goal with 18 seconds left.
Tech led:28-20 inside of four minutes left.
Remembered for:After Hamrick's game-winning field goal, Tech quarterback Billy Joe Tolliver chucked two long passes toward the end zone, both dropped.
1985: SMU 9, Texas Tech 7
Brandy Brownlee kicked an SMU record 57-yard field goal with 4:52 left at Texas Stadium for the game's final points.
Tech led:7-6 with five minutes remaining.
Remembered for:One of the Red Raiders' four losses by two or fewer points during a 4-7 season.
1992: Texas A&M 19, Tech 17
Terry Venetoulias kicked a 21-yard field goal as time ran out at Kyle Field.
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Tech led:14-10 early in the fourth quarter.
Remembered for:Venetoulias missed a PAT and a short field goal earlier in the game, so Tech coach Spike Dykes saved two timeouts to ice the kicker. That allowed the Aggies to use up all the clock on the final drive, which included Jeff Granger escaping a sack to complete a 13-yard pass on third down.
1995: Penn State 24, Tech 23
Brett Conway narrowly made a 39-yard field goal with four seconds left as the No. 4 Nittany Lions extended the nation's longest active win streak to 18 in a season opener at Happy Valley.
Tech led:20-7 late in the first half.
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More: Williams: Red Raiders losing streak brings back shades of '85
2014: West Virginia 37, Tech 34
Josh Lambert tied a school record with a 55-yard field goal as time ran out, capping a 17-point rally in the final six minutes.
Tech led:34-20 after a Justin Stockton 69-yard touchdown with 7:32 to go.
Chaotic sideline
1985: Texas A&M 28, Tech 27
Tech running back Bouvier Dale scored a 9-yard touchdown with 42 seconds left, but the Red Raiders botched a chance to win with a rushed, ill-fated decision to go for two.
Tech led:Never. King Simmons' interception-return TD tied it 21-21 late in the third quarter.
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Remembered for:Jerry Moore's indecision. With the Red Raiders driving, the Tech coach made up his mind to kick a PAT after a touchdown, not wanting to go home losers. Seeing his players' euphoria after the TD, Moore changed his mind and called back the kicking team. The confusion caused a delay of game, and the Red Raiders still went for two from the 8-yard line.
More: Q&A: Former Texas Tech coach Jerry Moore
Controversial calls and non-calls
1967: Texas A&M 28, Tech 24
Texas A&M quarterback Edd Hargett ran 15 yards for a touchdown as time ran out.
Tech led:24-21 with 53 seconds left.
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Remembered for:On the game-ending TD, the Red Raiders believed running back Larry Stegent's block on defensive end George Cox should have been flagged for clipping. Cox suffered a knee injury on the play that effectively ended his career. A&M went on to win the Southwest Conference, and Tech finished second, one game behind.
More: Don Williams' 10 memorable moments of the Texas Tech-A&M rivalry
1972: North Carolina 32, Tech 28
Ted Leverenz caught a go-ahead touchdown pass from Nick Vidnovic with one minute left in the Sun Bowl, and the Tar Heels tackled QB Joe Barnes for a safety with 43 seconds remaining.
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Tech led:21-9 in the third quarter.
Remembered for:Don Rives returned a blocked punt for a touchdown in the second quarter, but it was called back. Referee Burns McKinney penalized the Red Raiders, citing a Tech coach in the field of play during the return.
2006: Alabama 13, Tech 10
Tech fans initially cheered Jamie Christensen's low-flying, hopeless-looking 45-yard field goal, but it barely cleared the crossbar as time expired at the Cotton Bowl.
Tech led:Never. The Red Raiders tied it 10-10 on a Jarrett Hicks touchdown catch with 2:56 left.
Remembered for:Keith Brown turning a short pass into a 76-yard touchdown on Alabama's second play from scrimmage. Brown half-kneeled to catch the low throw, and Tech fans claim his left knee was down.
Oct 26, 2019; Lawrence, KS, USA; Kansas Jayhawks kicker Liam Jones (46) is carried around the field after kicking the game winning field goal against the Texas Tech Red Raiders at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports
They gave it away
1993: North Carolina State 36, Tech 34
NC State quarterback Terry Harvey threw two touchdown passes in the last two minutes, including an 11-yarder to Eddie Goines in the back of the end zone as time expired.
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Tech led:34-24 after a Bam Morris touchdown with 3:33 remaining.
Remembered for:Tech recovered an onside kickoff to seemingly seal a 34-30 outcome, but Morris fumbled with 1:23 left, setting up the Wolfpack's winning drive.
2019: Kansas 37, Tech 34
Kansas overcame a 34-27 deficit in the last 5 1/2 minutes on a touchdown run by Velton Gardner and a second-chance, 32-yard field goal by Liam Jones on the last play in Lawrence.
Tech led:17-0 in the second quarter.
Remembered for:Tech safety Douglas Coleman picked up a blocked field goal, tried to lateral and Kansas recovered, giving the Jayhawks' kicker another shot for the game winner.
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More: Wells says Coleman shouldn't shoulder burden for loss at KU
2020: Texas 63, Tech 56 (OT)
Sam Ehlinger threw two touchdown passes in the last three minutes of regulation, then another in overtime to cap a comeback for No. 8 Texas.
Tech led:56-41 after a SaRodorick Thompson 75-yard touchdown run with 3:13 left in regulation.
Remembered for:Tech QB Alan Bowman flashing a Horns Down hand gesture when the lead appeared safe and the Red Raiders losing an onside kickoff that gave the Longhorns a chance at the tying touchdown.
More: Williams column: How a sure slapdown of the 'Horns unraveled
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Coronation denied
1994: TCU 24, Tech 17
Max Knake threw 89- and 62-yard scoring passes to Jimmy Oliver and Andre Davis's 9-yard TD broke a 17-17 tie with 3:59 left on the Friday after Thanksgiving in Fort Worth.
Tech led:17-16 after a Tony Rogers field goal with 6:23 to go.
Remembered for:The Red Raiders missing a chance to be outright Southwest Conference champion for the first time. Tech, part of a five-way tie for the title with unbeaten Texas A&M on probation, still represented the SWC in the Cotton Bowl. But Tech fans who filed into Amon Carter Stadium eager to celebrate a title went home glum.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Looking back at Texas Tech football's most agonizing finishes
