With the road team winning the last four games, Texas and Texas Tech meet for the 69th time on Friday. Playing every year since 1960, the Longhorns and Red Raiders go all the way back to the Southwest Conference. While neither team has anything to play for as far as bowl eligibility, Texas needs a win to avoid their sixth 6-6 or worse regular-season record this decade.
Here is the series history between the Longhorns and Red Raiders:
All-time series record: Texas leads 51-17-0
Largest wins: Texas 58-7 in 1999, Texas Tech 33-9 in 1994
Latest Texas win: Nov. 10, 2018
Last season’s game against Texas Tech was an offensive slugfest that saw 38 of its 75 points scored in the fourth quarter. Both teams had over 450 total yards, including huge days for both Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger and Texas Tech quarterback Jett Duffy.
The Red Raiders were able to both throw and run the ball, having 595 total yards on offense. Duffy was the main guy for Texas Tech, throwing for 444 yards, while also leading the team in rushing with 80. Completing 78.7% of his passes and throwing four touchdowns, Duffy found seven different receivers. Antoine Wesley caught two of Duffy’s touchdowns and also racked in 171 receiving yards.
For the Longhorns, Ehlinger had one of his best days of the year, going 22-34 with 312 yards and four touchdowns. Three different receivers had over 50 yards for Texas, as Lil’ Jordan Humphrey led the way with 159 and Devin Duvernay and Jerrod Heard followed with 66 and 54 receiving yards respectively.
The play of the game came with 0:21 left in the game, tied at 34. Ehlinger threw a ball down the right sideline toward Humphrey, who reached over his defender, snagged the ball away from him, and went into the endzone to win the game for the Longhorns.
Texas won 41-34, making them 7-3 on the year. It was the fourth year in a row the road team had won in the series and Texas’ fifth straight win in Lubbock.
Latest Texas Tech win: Nov. 24, 2017
Playing on the Friday after Thanksgiving in 2017, both teams really struggled to throw the ball, with Texas completing 57% of their throws and Texas Tech completing 44%. To make matters worse, both teams threw two interceptions, turning the ball over a total of six times.
Late in the fourth quarter leading 23-20, Texas had a 3rd and 2 from their own 42-yard line. With 2:18 left in the game, a first down would have sealed the game for the Longhorns as Texas Tech only had one timeout left. Ehlinger scrambled to his right, threw across the middle and it was intercepted by cornerback Justus Parker. He took the ball all the way to the Texas 15 yard line, setting the Red Raiders up with a chance to win it.
Two plays later, Texas Tech quarterback Nic Shimonek found Cameron Batson for the go-ahead touchdown. On the final possession for the Longhorns, Ehlinger threw another interception with 0:55 left in the game, giving the Red Raiders the 27-23 win in Austin.
Struggling all day offensively, Texas fell to 6-6 on the season, giving them their fourth straight season with at least six losses. For Texas Tech, they also went to 6-6 and gained bowl eligibility for just the fourth time in seven years.
Texas will play Texas Tech on Friday at 11:00 a.m. CST on Fox.
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