Wild comeback propels No. 8 Texas to 63-56 OT victory over Texas Tech
Texas came back.
The No. 8 Longhorns scored two touchdowns less than two minutes apart in the final 2:39 of regulation on the way to a 63-56 overtime win at Texas Tech.
Texas Tech went up 56-41 on a 75-yard run by SaRodorick Thompson with 3:13 left. At that point, the game looked like it was going to be over and Texas was going to lose hours after No. 3 Oklahoma lost.
But Brennan Eagles caught a TD pass from Sam Ehlinger with 2:39 left and then the Longhorns got a fantastic bounce on an onside kick to retain possession after that score.
Ehlinger then hit Joshua Moore for an 18-yard touchdown with 40 seconds left to cut Tech’s lead to two. And then it was Eagles’ turn again as he caught the game-tying two-point conversion.
Texas got the ball first in overtime and scored when Ehlinger found Moore for a touchdown. Texas Tech couldn’t get a first down on its possession and the game ended when Caden Sterns picked off Alan Bowman on a desperation fourth-down pass.
A wild special teams day
If you liked bonkers special teams play, Saturday’s game was for you. Each team blocked a punt and Texas even returned the punt it blocked for a TD. Texas Tech scored a touchdown after recovering a muffed punt in the end zone and each team also got an onside kick. Tech got its onside kick in the first half on an exquisitely executed surprise.
After Jahdae Barron scored a TD off Texas’ blocked punt, the Longhorns led 38-28 in the third quarter. Tech quickly took a 42-38 lead before the end of the quarter and never relinquished that lead until Eagles’ TD in overtime.
The 119 combined points are the most in a single game in the history of the Texas-Texas Tech rivalry. Ehlinger threw for five touchdowns and also rushed for another.
The Big 12 narrowly avoids disaster
It would have been awful for the Big 12 if Texas and Oklahoma had both lost on the same day. The Sooners fell at home to Kansas State and a Texas loss would have left Tech and Oklahoma State as the only two teams that have played a game without a loss.
Simply put, it’s a lot better for the conference to claim Texas and OSU as unbeatens. The Cowboys were more impressive on Saturday in a win over West Virginia than they were against Tulsa two weeks ago. But OSU standing alone as the conference’s CFP favorite before the calendar flipped to October would not have been great. After all, this is the same Texas Tech team that almost got sent to overtime by Houston Baptist in its first game of the season.
Instead, Texas may actually move up significantly in the polls after No. 6 LSU fell at home to Mississippi State. It’s feasible that Texas could somehow escape the weekend with a top-five ranking. Is Texas a top-five team? No one can say for sure at this point. But we are pretty sure that this season will be a wacky one.
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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.
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