Harrell Leads Texas Tech To Upset Of Sooners
POSTED: 2:28 am EST November 18,
2007
Lubbock, TX -- (Sports Network) - Graham Harrell completed 47-of-72 passes for 420 yards with two touchdowns and also ran for one score, as Texas Tech upset third-ranked Oklahoma, 34-27, at Jones AT&T Stadium, likely spoiling the Sooners' opportunity for a possible shot at the national title.Michael Crabtree caught 12 passes for 154 yards and one score for Texas Tech (8-4, 4-4 Big 12), which closed out the regular season by winning two of three. Aaron Crawford had 81 yards receiving and 47 yards on the ground with one score. Danny Amendola had nine receptions for 81 yards and Eric Morris added 56 yards receiving and one touchdown. Joey Halzle finished the game 21-of-41 passing for 291 yards with two touchdowns and one interception for the Sooners (9-2, 5-2), who had their five-game winning streak broken. Starting quarterback Sam Bradford left the game in the first quarter with a concussion after making a tackle on a fumble recovery. DeMarco Murray had 94 yards on 19 carries, and Manuel Johnson had 96 yards receiving along with two touchdowns. Juaquin Iglesias caught seven passes for 73 yards. Oklahoma entered the game ranked fourth in the BCS, right behind Big 12 rival Kansas. The Sooners need a win next week over Oklahoma State to clinch the South Division in the Big 12 to secure a spot in the conference championship game. "I though that for the limited snaps, he's been very limited in games, even in practice, two's don't really get the snaps that the one's do, I thought Joey did a really good job," said Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops, referring to Halzle. "Again, for the really limited time that he has had, he stepped up for the most part, really hung in there and fought to the end." Early in the third quarter, the Sooners turned the ball over on downs when a fake punt went awry, giving the Red Raiders a golden opportunity to blow the game open. Texas Tech began the drive at the Oklahoma 34 and quickly capitalized on the Sooners miscue, capping the five-play march on Crawford's three-yard touchdown run, which made it a 34-10 game with 12:25 remaining in the third. After Garret Hartley booted a 33-yard field goal for the Sooners, Alex Trlica missed a 51-yard field goal for the Red Raiders, as the ball clanked off the right upright. The Sooners cut the lead to two touchdowns on Johnson's 65-yard reception with 7:50 left in regulation. With the clock ticking down to about five minutes left, Oklahoma attempted to make it a one-possession game, but Halzle's pass to Johnson on 4th-and-goal was incomplete. Johnson ran a fade route and his left foot came down in the end zone, but Jamar Wall ripped the ball out before Johnson hit the ground. The play was reviewed and eventually upheld. The Red Raiders ran the clock down to under a minute before punting it away. Oklahoma needed only 20 seconds to strike, as Halzle completed a 47-yard pass to Iglesias to the Texas Tech nine-yard line. After Halzle spiked the ball to stop the clock, he threw a nine-yard strike to Johnson to make it a 34-27 game with only 31 seconds remaining. Darcel McBath recovered the on-side kick to secure the win for Texas Tech. "I thought it was the ultimate team effort," said Texas Tech coach Mike Leach. "There were huge contributions by defense, huge contributions by special teams and huge contributions by offense. I think it was a game won together. I thought this day that the Tech defense was the biggest factor in this game." The Red Raiders came out throwing, as Harrell completed his first four passes, unfortunately, his fifth throw was caught by the Sooners' Lendy Holmes and returned 63 yards for a touchdown 1:35 into the game. Oklahoma forced a three-and-out on the Red Raiders next possession. However, Allen Patrick fumbled the football on the Sooners first play from scrimmage and it was recovered at the Oklahoma 46 by Marlon Williams, who returned it 12 yards to the 34. Bradford was injured on the play attempting to tackle Williams, but came back out for another series before departing in favor of Halzle. Texas Tech could not muster anything offensively, settling on a 51-yard field goal by Trlica that was just inside the left upright with 12:07 remaining in the first. Harrell guided the team on a 12-play, 55-yard drive to the Sooners 21 and Trlica's 38-yard field goal made it a one-point game, 7-6, with 6:42 left in the first. The Red Raiders converted a critical 4th-and-2 to keep another drive alive, as Harrell, set up in the shotgun, pump faked and pulled the ball down, running 11 yards for the first down. Harrell burrowed his way in for a one-yard score with 5:10 remaining to give the Red Raiders a 13-7 lead. Crabtree's 60-yard catch-and-run set up Harrell's score. Crabtree caught the ball over the middle of the field, made a couple cutbacks before racing down the far sideline for a would-be touchdown. However, the officials reviewed the play and it was determined Crabtree stepped out of bounds at the one. Crabtree's 13-yard touchdown extended Texas Tech's lead to 20-7 at the 2:42 mark of the second. Texas Tech marched 64 yards in 2:17 and Morris capped the 10-play jaunt with a 15-yard touchdown, expanding the Red Raiders' cushion to 27-7. On their next possession, the Red Raiders were moving the ball down the field, but Crawford fumbled the ball when he ran into an offensive lineman and Cory Bennett recovered it for Oklahoma, giving the Sooners a chance to trim the margin before halftime. Oklahoma had a 1st-and goal from the four-yard line. Murray rushed up the middle for three yards, but lost a yard on his next carry. Then Iglesias dropped a catchable ball in the back of the end zone on third down, forcing the Sooners to settle for a 20-yard field goal by Hartley with 19 seconds remaining in the half. Game Notes Despite the loss, Oklahoma owns an 11-4 advantage in the all-time series...Crabtree, who is a freshman, entered the game the nation's leading receiver with 113 receptions for 1,707 yards and 20 touchdowns...Harrell has 5,298 yards passing on the season. Harrell became the second quarterback in Tech history to throw for 5,000-plus yards in a single season as BJ Symons threw for an NCAA record 5,833 back in 2003...Trlica set the NCAA career record for extra points made with his 227th at the 12:18 mark in the second quarter, breaking the previous record of 226 set by Bowling Green's Shaun Suisham (2001-04). Trlica also holds the NCAA mark for career extra points without a miss.
Copyright 2007 Courtesy of The Sports Network.









