Red Raiders shred Sooner secondary
LUBBOCK, Texas — Bob Stoops bristled when asked last week if containing Texas Tech's high-powered offense was the best he could hope for defensively.
"You try to stop it,” Stoops said. "And you try to control it at times too. It's a little of both.”
Turns out, the Sooners couldn't do either.
Texas Tech shredded the Oklahoma secondary for 420 passing yards and 34 points Saturday. A week after Baylor turned the heat on OU's pass defense, the Red Raiders blew it up.
Most of the defensive damage came at the hands and feet of the NCAA's top receiver, Michael Crabtree. The freshman phenom from Dallas caught nine passes for 141 yards and a score in the first half alone. He finished with 154 yards on 12 receptions.
"They were in zone most of the night,” said Crabtree, who leads the nation with 125 receptions for 1,861 yards on the season. "We didn't keep scoring in the second half and that was a little disappointing. But we did our job.”
Without Big 12 sack leader Auston English — sidelined for a second-straight game following minor surgery to repair a hairline fracture in his right ankle — the Sooner pass rush was almost non-existent.
Unharrassed in the pocket, Red Raider quarterback Graham Harrell dinked and dunked the Tech offense up and down the field. He attempted 47 passes in the first two quarters, completing 30 of them.
By game's end, Harrell had attempted 72 passes.
"This is the biggest win I've played in,” Harrell said. "It's something we can really build on. It's a big win for the program.”
Running the ball is a bit unconventional in Mike Leach's pass-happy offense. But Texas Tech did that well, too.
Aaron Crawford, starting for the demoted Shannon Woods, rushed 12 times for 47 yards and a score. Harrell also scored on a 1-yard run.
"Tonight was the ultimate team effort,” Leach said. "There were huge contributions by the defense, huge contributions by the special teams and huge contributions by the offense.”
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