Texas Tech Football Survives Against Kansas State 59-44 [VIDEO]

The fireworks began early and often for the Texas Tech Red Raiders and Kansas State Wildcats Saturday afternoon in Lubbock in Big 12 Conference football action.

The Red Raiders took the opening drive and drove 75 yards in nine plays which culminated in a 17-yard touchdown pass from Patrick Mahomes to Justin Stockton giving Texas Tech the early 7-0 lead. The ensuing kickoff would be taken 93 yards to the house by Kansas State’s Morgan Burns to tie the game with 11:56 left in the first quarter.

The Red Raiders would come back on their next offensive drive and drive 75 yards again, this time on five plays which were highlighted by a 53 yard catch and run by Jakeem Grant to the Kansas State 5. DeAndre Washington would take a 5 yard toss run into the end zone making it 14-7 Red Raiders less than five minutes into the contest.

Kansas State’s first offensive possession would end in a punt after the Wildcats were able to move the ball down to the Texas Tech 44, but stalled after three consecutive incompletions by the Wildcats. The Red Raiders then responded with a DeAndre Washington 80-yard touchdown run to give Texas Tech a 21-7 lead midway through the first quarter.

The Wildcats would come out on offense again throwing the ball and moving into Texas Tech territory, but a forced fumble by the Red Raider defense would give Tech the ball back at their own 37. The first four drives by the Kansas State offense would end in three punts and a fumble.

The Red Raider offense would drive down again on the Wildcats in four plays and scoring a touchdown with Stockton scoring from seven yards out to give Texas Tech a 28-7 lead. The 28 points scored by the Red Raiders would be the most scored in school history during Big 12 Conference game.

Both offenses would exchange punts to end the first quarter and do the same to start the second quarter. The Wildcats would then drive 71 yards over ten plays ending in a 1-yard quarterback sneak by Joe Hubener to bring the score to 28-14.

The Red Raiders would come back and answer with a score of their own taking the ball 70 yards over six plays which ended on a 19-yard pass from Mahomes to a wide open Devin Lauderdale with 3:43 left in the half. Kansas State would score again before halftime bringing the score to 35-21 Texas Tech.

Texas Tech would cough up the football to the Wildcats deep in their own territory on a DeAndre Washington run and Kansas State would make the Red Raiders pay on another 1-yard run by Hubener to cut the lead to 35-28.

The ensuing possession was pivotal for the Red Raiders and the offense would respond with an 8-play, 81-yard drive which would end on a 20-yard shovel pass for a touchdown from Mahomes to Stockton giving Tech a 42-28 lead. The Texas Tech defense would force a three-and-out on the Wildcats offense and the Red Raiders would capitalize with a 48-yard field goal to extend the lead to 45-28.

The Red Raiders would force another Wildcat punt and go 16 plays, 87 yards chewing up over six minutes of game time on their next drive which would end with a four yard Mahomes option run to give the Red Raiders a 52-28 lead with 11:30 minutes left in the game. Mahomes would finish the game going 33-42 for 384 yards and three passing touchdowns.

The Wildcats wouldn't quit as they would respond with a scoring drive which would end on a six yard touchdown pass on fourth down and goal to bring Kansas State to within 18 at 52-34, but they would miss the two-point conversion with 7:25 left in the game.

The Red Raider offense would go three-and-out and the Wildcats would score on the very next play on a 33-yard pass from Hubener to Kyle Klein to make it 52-41. Kansas State would recover an onside kick and drive down to the Texas Tech 26 before converting a 43-yard field goal to cut the lead to 52-44.

Texas Tech would again be caught off-guard as the Wildcats would recover the ensuing onside kick, but multiple penalties on Kansas State would force a re-kick and Tech would recover the ball. The Red Raiders would run the clock down to 1:02 left after Washington would score his third touchdown of the day on a 12-yard run to make it 59-44. Washington became the first Texas Tech player to rush for 200 yards in a game since Shaud Williams in 1999 against Colorado. Washington ran 27 times for 248 yards and three touchdowns.

Texas Tech improves to 6-5 on the season and 3-5 in Big 12 Conference play while Kansas State falls to 3-6 on the season and 0-6 in the Big 12. The Red Raiders will have their first bye week of the season before facing the 4-6 Texas Longhorns in Austin on Thanksgiving night. Kansas State will return home to Manhattan taking on the 3-7 Iowa State Cyclones.