The Juice: Red Raiders prove their mettle in win over Sun Devils
We knew the Red Raiders were going to face adversity this season. No one could have predicted when, where or the exact circumstances, but even the most optimistic Texas Tech fan knew that tough, gut-check moments were coming.
The fourth quarter of the team's 52-45 win over Arizona State provided the first, but certainly not the last, of those moments.
It's perfectly fair to mark down the Red Raiders for letting the game get to that point in the first place. Texas Tech led by 21-3 at the end of the first quarter, 35-17 at halftime and 42-24 midway through the third quarter, but the team repeatedly failed to put Arizona State away and it nearly cost them.
"When you have a chance to bury a team like we did, you gotta bury them because they have talented players," Kliff Kingsbury said. "Their backs were against the wall. They have a tough stretch coming up. That was a must-win for them. We knew we'd get their best shot. And we let them hang around and they did a tremendous job going back. Showed a lot of heart. You've gotta give them all the credit in the world."
By 8:51 p.m., less than an hour after kickoff, the Red Raiders looked well on their way to a cathartic blowout win over the visiting Sun Devils. Two-and-a-half hours later, with 7:58 left to play in a tie game, a white-hot Arizona State offense took the field and a Texas Tech fanbase collectively held its breath and thought "here we go again."
Last year, the Red Raiders were 1-4 in one-possession games, doomed by fourth-quarter failures in all phases of the game. The team entered the final stanza tied with Kansas State 31-31, but the defense allowed the Wildcats to score on all three of their fourth-quarter possessions and the offense disappeared. Texas Tech pulled to within six of No. 16 Oklahoma early in the fourth quarter, but the defense was unable to get a stop the rest of the way out*. Two weeks later against Texas, down by eight, it was the defense that did its job in the fourth quarter, but the offense came up empty on three consecutive drives. Finally, down by seven against No. 13 Oklahoma State, the Red Raiders scored a touchdown with 1:44 left to play, but lost after missing the PAT.
Pin in on whatever you want, be it a lack of talent, inexperience, poor playcalls, bad luck or some combination of them all, but the 2016 Texas Tech football team failed over and over again in critical, late-game situations.
Saturday night presented the Red Raiders with an opportunity - largely of their own making, to be sure - to show that they were better.
They did not disappoint.
Texas Tech 45, Arizona State - 7:58
David Gibbs' defense took the field having allowed touchdowns on four-straight drives. The Sun Devils had piled up 288 yards on 27 second-half plays and looked as unstoppable in the fourth quarter as Oklahoma and Kansas State did in 2016.
Three plays later, Arizona State punted the ball away, having failed to convert a 3rd and 3 at midfield. With the game on the line, the Red Raiders forced their second three-and-out of the game.
Texas Tech 45, Arizona State 45 - 6:26
Nic Shimonek and the offense took the field 90-yards away from victory. The group had cooled off considerably since their hot start, gaining just five combined yards on their last two drives, reminiscent of the offense's fourth-quarter showing against Kansas State and Texas in 2016.
What followed was Texas Tech's longest drive of the season. Shimonek led the offense on a 12-play, 90-yard touchdown drive that killed 4:31 off the clock - all season-highs.
Texas Tech 52, Arizona State 45 - 1:55
The Red Raiders' special teams unit, which had so disappointed a year ago in Stillwater, had been excellent up to this point on Saturday. Kicker Michael Barden then put an exclamation mark on the group's performance by drilling the ensuing kickoff into the endzone for a touchback.
The defense was then tasked with getting one final stop. Manny Wilkins opened the drive with a 12-yard strike to Jalen Harvey, but those would be the final yards gained by the Sun Devils. Texas Tech's defense forced two incompletions, sacked Wilkins on third down and held on 4th and 30.
Two quick Shimonek kneel-downs later, it was over.
Texas Tech 52, Arizona State 45 - 00:00
No one knows what the next 10 games will hold, but the Red Raiders showcased a level of toughness and maturity Saturday night that last year's team seemed to lack.
* Oklahoma only faced just two third-downs in the entire second half, none in the fourth quarter.