Ticket City Bowl: 10 Keys to Texas Tech's 45-38 Triumph
"Texas Tech football is good TV." That's what first-year head coach Tommy Tuberville said following his team's 45-38 white-knuckle victory over Northwestern in the inaugural Ticket City Bowl at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas.
Taylor Potts, the game MVP, was sharp from start-to-finish, finding Tech receivers all day long.
Here are 10 keys to Texas Tech's Ticket City Bowl triumph:
Excellent Offensive Line Play
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Taylor Potts ended the day with a pretty clean uniform and very few bruises.
His offensive line deserves considerable credit for how much time he had to find receivers and deliver pin-point passes.
Eric Stephens and any other Red Raider ballcarrier had holes to run through.
Again, Tech's offensive line deserves big-time recognition.
Whichever team wins the battle of the trenches, usuallly wins the game, and there was no doubt about the how dominant the Tech o-line was all afternoon.
Eric Stephens
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When Barron Batch went down in the first half, Tech needed to turn to one of their other playmakers to step up...and that's exactly what sophomore Eric Stephens did.
His 86-yard TD in the third quarter marked the longest play from scrimmage for Texas Tech this season.
Stephens had 227 all-purpose yards (126 rushing yards, 19 on receptions, and 82 on four kickoff returns).
Third Down Conversions
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It seemed like every time that Tech needed to convert on a third-down situation, they did.
The stats say they converted on 8-of-15 which is good.
But the importance of when those eight conversions came cannot be overstated.
On Tech's last possession, they were able to move the chains and keep the clock going. They held the ball so that Northwestern only had 25 seconds left after a Tech punt.
That was huge.
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Lyle Leong
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Senior receiver Lyle Leong decided his Texas Tech career needed an exclamation point.
His 10 receptions for 118 yds and two touchdowns were essential to the Red Raider victory.
Those two touchdowns put him in a tie for second place in single-season TDs (19).
Leong had a total of 32 receiving TDs in his four-year Red Raider career.
Good Clock and Game Management
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This wasn't Tommy Tuberville's first rodeo.
He's coached in a lot of big games.
He's coached in a lot of tight contests.
He's made the tough calls when the bright lights have been on in bowl games.
And so as the Northwestern Wildcats came storming back, Tuberville's cool head and calm play-calling made the difference between a win and a loss.
Running the Ball Effectively
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Over the last several years, Texas Tech has not been known for its running attack.
In fact, going into today's game, the Red Raiders were No. 83 in rushing (137.8 ypg).
Today, Tech ran the ball effectively, even if they didn't run it abundantly.
They had 29 carries for 183 yards—a nice 6.3 yards per carry.
Harrison Jeffers (pictured) had a key carry for 16 yards.
Matt Williams
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Texas Tech student Matt Williams won a kicking contest, and the next thing Williams knows, he's kicking for the football team.
Cute story? No, great find.
Today, Williams made his only field goal attempt, a 24-yarder in the first quarter.
He also was 6-for-6 on extra points.
As "unspectacular" as his stats were today, those nine points were the difference in the game.
Red Zone Success
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Texas Tech was a perfect 6-for-6 in the Red Zone today (Note: Northwestern was 5-for-5).
By consistently putting points on the board, the Red Raiders were ahead from start to finish.
Too many teams waste too many opportunities...not the Red Raiders today.
Junior receiver Tramain Swindall (pictured) picked up his first TD catch (six yds) of the season with 2:29 remaining in the third quarter and gave Tech a 38-17 lead at the time.
Few Penalties
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Penalties give coaches gray hair.
Penalties kill drives.
Penalties even lose games.
But when you only have three all day long, like Tech did today, you can keep your yardage and your scores and prevent your opponents from accelerating down the field.
Tech was whistled for only three penalties for 34 yards...that's big in a close game.
Taylor Potts: Inaugural Ticket City Bowl MVP
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Taylor Potts finished an outstanding college career with an outstanding final game.
He was 43-56 (in passing attempts) for 369 yards and four TDs. Even ran for a TD on a double-pass.
There was no doubt he was the Most Valuable Player of the game.
He is only the second Tech player (joining Graham Harrell) to earn two bowl MVP awards—he won the same award last year at the Alamo Bowl.
Big players step up in big games, and that's what Taylor Potts did against Northwestern in the first Ticket City Bowl in Dallas.
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