Written by Robert Henry
Arlington, TX – The Texas Tech Red Raiders host the Baylor Bears from AT&T Stadium for this years edition of The Texas Federal Bureau Insurance Shootout game. Baylor came out on top victorious in this shootout toppling Texas Tech 35-24. The Red Raiders put up a good fight but ultimately just could not keep up with the Baylor offense and defense.
The top leading rusher in Saturday’s game was no doubt John Lovett of the Baylor Bears. Lovett rushed for 125 yards on 28 carries, averaging 4.5 yards per carry. Baylor’s Charlie Brewer had a great game with 22 completions of his 30 attempts for 308 yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 interception. The Bear’s Chris Platt also had an exceptional game with 6 receptions for 114 yards, averaging 19 yards per carry. Baylor definitely played a really solid game even with the few mistakes that they made.
The Red Raiders came out swinging with their first possession of the game. Their first drive consisted of nine plays resulting in a touchdown. McLane Carter completed a beautiful pass to Ja’Deion High for 54 yards giving them the lead early on. The Bears responded with nineteen plays for 75 yards resulting in their own touchdown pass. Baylor moved the ball slowly but eventually made it to the end zone. Baylor quarterback Brewer connected with Denzel Mims for a 6-yard touchdown tying the game up at seven all. Texas Tech was looking to take a commanding lead in the first quarter but unfortunately, they had to settle for a field goal after getting to the Baylor 24 yard line, putting the Red Raiders up by just a field goal. It looked like as if the Red Raiders would be able to control the pace of this shootout.
The Baylor Bears had other plans for this game and were not going to let the Red Raiders overpower them. The Bears responded with a touchdown after five plays for 75 yards putting them up 14 to 10 early in the second quarter. The shootout continued as Texas Tech was able to move the ball 75 yards on 6 plays resulting in a Dem Felton rush for 7 yards and a touchdown. This touchdown propelled the Red Raider to the lead at 17 to 14. Baylor was looking to get revenge for the last drive Texas Tech had. Brewer, however, threw an interception and the recipient of this interception was Texas Tech defensive player Jah Johnson. Although the Bears made a pretty big mistake the Baylor defense stepped it up and put a stop to Texas Tech’s next drive. The back and forth would continue until the Baylor threw an interception as time was expiring. Vaughnte Dorsey was responsible for intercepting the ball and returning it for 75 yards just falling short of the end zone. Texas Tech had a chance to extend the lead but time expired and the game headed into halftime with a score of 17-14, Red Raiders leading the way
Baylor came out of halftime looking for revenge and it took them seven plays and 75 yards to regain the lead. The Bears quarterback, Brewer, found wide receiver Platt open for a wide-open 39-yard catch. As Baylor moved the ball they were sitting on the 1-yard line and Brewer sneaks the ball in resulting in a touchdown after the play was reviewed. The Bears took the lead putting them up 21-17 early in the second half of play. Texas Tech was looking to regain momentum but Carter just could not connect with Antoine Wesley or High. The Red Raiders were forced to punt the ball away. Baylor utilized this by putting up another touchdown with John Lovett powering through the Texas Tech defensive line. This would put the Baylor Bears at 28 to the Red Raiders 17. It was not looking good at this point due to both teams to end the third quarter were just going back and forth but either team was putting up anymore points.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Texas Tech was able to see the end zone once again. Carter was able to connect with Seth Collins on an excellent 7-yard pass, closing the gap between the Red Raiders and the Bears. However, Baylor was not going to let Texas Tech just score without the Bears putting up more points. Baylor responded with a five-play 75 yard touchdown drive putting the score at 35-24, Baylor in the lead. The next Texas Tech drive was looking promising until Raleigh Texada of Baylor intercepted Carter’s pass. Baylor would try to run the clock out as well as extend the lead but was forced to punt the ball away after eleven plays. Texas Tech last drive of the game resulted in another Carter interception. The pass was intercepted by Blake Lynch and returned for 15 yards. The Bears would go on to win the game 35-24 after the interception on the last Texas Tech drive.
The Baylor Bears came to win and even though they might have looked a little sluggish at the beginning of the game they definitely stepped up their game and their momentum as the game went on. It seemed that even when Baylor made mistakes they never faltered and continued to make strides to take home the win.
Baylor coach, Matt Rhule, stated that “We would like to be a lot better in a lot of areas, We don’t want to turn the ball over in the first half like we did. We want to get more turnover”. Coach Rhule understands that he might have gain bowl eligibility but his teams have some work to still do. Luckily for Coach Rhule his team is still young. Baylor’s 19-play, 75-yard scoring drive in the first quarter set a record for the longest scoring drive in the Texas Farm Bureau Shootout Game as well as tying the longest touchdown drive for a college game at AT&T Stadium. Texas Tech defensive back Dorsey’s 75-yard interception return is the second longest interception return for a college game at AT&T Stadium.
This might be the end to Texas Tech’s season but they will start gearing up for the 2019 season, which is against Montana State on August 31 at home. As for the Baylor Bears, they will be looking to see which bowl game they get placed into and start preparing for it.