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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) -- The legs of Hodges Mitchell and Kris
Stockton were enough for No. 20 Texas against pass-happy Texas
Tech.
Mitchell ran for a career-high 229 yards and two touchdowns and
Stockton tied a school record with five field goals as the
Longhorns beat Texas Tech 29-17 on Saturday night.
|  | | Texas QB Major Applewhite went 18-of-33 for 164 yards before leaving the game with a knee injury in the third quarter. |
Midway through the third quarter, Mitchell went to Texas coach
Mack Brown with a message.
"I told coach Brown, `If ya'll will give me a chance to carry,
I'll do it,"' Mitchell said. "He said, `We'll give it to you, but
don't make me look bad."'
He didn't.
The Longhorns finally took control of the game on Mitchell's
10-yard TD run with 2:07 left in the third quarter. Wes Welker
mishandled a punt, and Mitchell needed just two runs from the 18 to
put the Longhorns ahead 26-17.
"He said he'd take over. And he did," Brown said.
Texas (7-2, 5-1 Big 12) struggled to get the ball in the end
zone in the first half, keeping the Red Raiders (6-4, 2-4) in the
game.
The Longhorns have won four straight games since the
embarrassing 63-14 loss to top-ranked Oklahoma, which had 534 total
yards, including 289 passing.
The Longhorns were much more successful against the
Sooners-inspired Texas Tech offense. First-year Tech coach Mike
Leach was the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma last season.
"Our kids played their guts out," Brown said. "It is the kind
of win you like. We showed toughness. We had momentum, lost it and
then turned it back."
Texas Tech was ahead 17-16 when Ricky Williams scored on a
1-yard run with 10:35 to go in the third quarter. The score came
two plays after linebacker John Norman intercepted Major
Applewhite's pass and returned it 11 yards to the 14.
"We had no rise on all three sides of the ball," Leach said.
"The first half our offense did well, but our defense couldn't
stop the ball. Second half, our defense did well but we couldn't
make any plays."
Applewhite made up for the miscue, moving the Longhorns 55 yards
in 10 plays for Stockton's 36-yard field goal that put Texas ahead
to stay.
But that proved to be the last action for Applewhite, who didn't
return after injuring his right knee on that drive. It was not
apparent when Applewhite got hurt, and the extent of the injury
wasn't known.
Applewhite was walking with the aid of crutches after the game,
and indicated that it was some kind of ligament damage. Brown said
the quarterback would be evaluated when the team returned to
Austin.
"I'm not sure yet, it's either a partial or all the way torn
ACL," Applewhite said.
Applewhite was 18-of-33 for 164 yards with an interception and a
fumble. Chris Simms completed his only two passes for 18 yards.
Texas Tech's Kliff Kingsbury was 28-of-49 for 282 yards with two
interceptions. The Red Raiders had just 17 yards rushing on 14
attempts, and three fumbles.
"They did not stop us, we stopped ourselves," Kingsbury said.
"We never had trouble moving the ball against Texas, just keeping
the ball while we were moving it was the problem."
Texas got its final points when Stockton kicked a 32-yard field
goal with 9:54 left. That came seven plays after Roderick Babers
intercepted Kingsbury's pass that deflected off receiver Tim Baker
and returned it 21 yards to the Tech 45.
Even while driving at least 65 yards and scoring on each of its
first three possessions of the game, Texas managed just a 13-0
lead. Two of the drives ended with field goals by Stockton (22 and
47 yards).
Stockton's third field goal, which gave Texas a 16-0 lead with
9:06 left in the first half, came seven plays after the Longhorns
recovered a fumbled snap at the Red Raiders' 16.
Mitchell ran for 119 yards on 13 carries in the first quarter,
including a 5-yard touchdown to end the second Texas drive for a
10-0 lead.
Tech then moved to the 12 -- picking up 58 yards on Kingsbury's
43-yard pass to Welker and a personal foul penalty -- before Baker
caught a pass and was immediately stripped by Quentin Jammer.
Texas then drove 65 yards in 16 plays for Stockton's second
field goal.
The Red Raiders got within 16-10 by halftime with scores on
consecutive drives.
Kingsbury threw a 39-yard TD pass to freshman Carlos Francis,
capping a four-play drive on which the quarterback also had
completions of 13 and 17 yards. After Welker returned a punt 21
yards, Tech settled for a 28-yard field goal by Chris Birkholz.
Francis caught seven passes for 97 yards.
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ALSO SEE
College Football Scoreboard
Texas Clubhouse
Texas Tech Clubhouse
Texas QB Applewhite leaves game with knee injury
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