Red Raiders quiet Aggies in 35-7 romp
LUBBOCK, Texas - Graham Harrell threw for 425 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another score as Texas Tech beat Texas A&M 35-7 Saturday.
Harrell, who was 30-of-37, had TD passes of 12, 28 and 8 yards, and none went to Michael Crabtree, his favorite target this season.
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Crabtree came into the game with a nation-leading 17 touchdown catches. Crabtree had at least two scores in each of the first six games.
Tech (6-1, 2-1) held the Aggies (5-2, 2-1 Big 12) scoreless the final three quarters.
Harrell was visibly shaken up late in the second quarter after taking what appeared to be a late hit. No flag was thrown when Aggies defensive lineman Von Miller clobbered Harrell in the right side a couple of seconds after Harrell threw toward Shannon Woods.
Referee Tom Walker's microphone remained on after announcing the incompletion to Woods. He immediately turned to Harrell and asked, "You all right?"
Two plays later, Harrell continued to talk to the refs about the lack of a flag as he approached the line of scrimmage.
Tech went on to score on the drive to go up 21-7 just before halftime, and Harrell finished the game.
Despite not catching a TD pass, Crabtree displayed his speed and agility on two catches on slants across the middle, one for 54 yards in the second quarter and a 47-yarder in the fourth quarter with Tech already up 28-7. He had eight catches for 170 yards, just off his per-game average of 179.
Tech's prolific offense started slowly, failing to score in the first quarter. The last time the Red Raiders didn't score until the second quarter was in their record-setting, 31-point comeback win (44-41) against Minnesota in last year's Insight Bowl.
A&M's ground game chewed up the clock on the Aggies' first two drives. On the first possession, A&M ran on all 10 plays of a 73-yard drive for a 7-0 lead. Jorvorskie Lane, who earlier this week guaranteed an Aggies win, got his 11th touchdown on a 1-yard run.
The Aggies had some chances to keep it close, but they couldn't close drives. When the drives stalled, kicker Matt Szymanski struggled, missing field goals of 41 yards and 33 yards in the first half.
A&M also had a chance early in the third quarter. Cornerback Danny Gorrer had a clear path to the end zone when he stepped in front of a Harrell pass to Danny Amendola. But Gorrer juggled the ball, and Amendola pulled it in for a first down at the Tech 30.