Oct. 23, 1999
WACO, Texas - Texas Tech took used big plays from its special teams and defense to pull away from Baylor in a 35-7 win at Floyd Casey Stadium Saturday.
While the Bear defense played courageous football to keep it close as long as it could, the Raiders scored on an 80-yard punt return and had easy touchdowns set up by a blocked punt and interception.
"We asked the guys to fight and lay it on the line, and boy, the defense went out and fought," said coach Kevin Steele, whose team went to 1-6 on the season, 0-4 in Big 12 play.
"They made some big plays, they made them earn everything they got. We just couldn't get anything going on offense."
The Bears created three turnovers while limiting Tech to 302 yards total offense, a good portion of which came after the outcome had been decided. The Raiders, 4-3, 3-1, entered the game averaging 420 yards a game, but gained 185 rushing yards and 117 through the air against the Bears.
Baylor managed 188 total yards, 137 rushing and 88 passing. Tech's first down advantage was a slim 18-15.
"We played very hard, everybody on defense," linebacker Kris Micheaux said. "We can play a whole lot better, but we played well. I'm happy with what we did...three turnovers...that's as well as we've played this year."
"This was a great win on the road," said Red Raider coach Spike Dykes, who went to 50-21-1 in his career in games after Oct. 10. "We were able to run the ball some...but we left it on the ground too much, though."
Tech took advantage of excellent field position to put the game's first points on the board. After Baylor started its first drive on the 11 and failed to gain a first down, Kyle Atteberry's punt set the Raiders up at the 50.
After giving up a first down on a third-and-nine situation at the 29, the Baylor defense stiffened. Micheaux stopped Williams for a two-yard loss and Justin Snow sacked Peters for a six-yard loss.
That sent Chris Birkholz into the game, where he hit a 41-yard field goal at the 10:11 mark. After an eight-play, 26-yard drive that consumed 3:21, Tech led 3-0.
After another three-and-out Bear drive the Red Raiders took over on their own 40. Facing a third-and-four, Peters hit receiver Darrell Jones crossing the middle. Andre Taylor nailed Jones with a solid hit, forcing the ball loose. Rodney Smith recovered to set up the Bears on the Raider 49.
Three Bear snaps netted eight yards, but Atteberry's 30-yard punt pinned TT back to its own 10.
From there Peters moved the Raiders down to the 22, where the BU defense once more held. Birkholz came on again, this time splitting the uprights with a 40-yard field goal.
The 10-play, 67-yard drive took 3:26 off the clock and made it 6-0, Raiders, with 2:28 to go in the opening quarter.
By the end of the first quarter Tech had limited the BU offense to 16 yards and no first downs on 12 snaps. The Red Raiders had controlled the clock by a 9:40-5:20 margin, but the defense had done its job in yielding only six points.
The Bears made their initial first down of the game when Alfred hit Mark Cogdill for a 13-yard gain with 13:17 to go in the half.
Chedrick Ricks, a freshman running back seeing the first action of his career, got another first down with a six-yard run and it looked like the Bears were getting something going. But Raider free safety Kevin Curtis intercepted Alfred and returned the ball 47 yards down to the one.
From there Peters made it 12-0 with a quarterback sneak with 10:32 left in the half. He then hit a diving Tim Winn in the left side of the endzone for a two-point conversion to make it 14-0.
Birkholz hit a sky kick on the ensuing kickoff and BU's Jason Lary attempted a fair catch. He muffed the ball, and Jonathan Hawkins recovered for the Tech at the 36.
The Raiders turned it right back over when Shaud Williams took a hit and Dwight Johnson recovered at the 30, recording the first fumble recovery of his career.
The Bears couldn't capitalize on the break, though, and Atteberry's 39-yard punt set TT up at its own 27. Baylor defense continued to hold tough and an exchange of punts put the Bears in business at their own 36 with 2:44 to go.
Baylor quickly moved down the field, and a Darrell Bush run of 12 yards got the ball down to the TT 26. But Raider defensive end Taurus Rucker broke through to sack Alfred for an 11-yard loss back to the 37.
That set the stage for a 45-yard Atteberry field goal attempt which sailed wide right with 1:18 go to before intermission.
Baylor started the second half with a bang. Andra Fuller fielded the kickoff and ran left before handing off to a reversing Randy Davis, who took the ball at the 13 and went the distance for the touchdown.
Before the band could find its seats, Baylor's first kickoff return for a touchdown since Kalief Muhammad turned the trick against Oregon State in 1996 had cut the lead to 14-7.
"We told them at halftime, 'Let's go back out and made something happen.' We opened it up with the reverse and make it 14-7," said Steele.
"After I broke free all I saw was the kicker and knew he couldn't catch me," said Davis, a sprinter on the Bear track team.
After the BU defense held the Bear offensive line started blasting gaping holes in the Raider defense. Bush, who finished with 91 rushing yards, broke up the middle for a 30-yard gain to the Bear 40. Ricks then got a first down with a 10-yard gain to Raider 45.
Bush and Ricks quickly combined for runs of seven, five and nine yards to get the ball down to the 33, but the drive stalled when the Raiders stopped Bush on a fourth-and-two at the 35.
"We'd made it 14-7 and it looked like we were going to make it 14-14, but we never really made it happen," Steele said. "We didn't seize the opportunity."
Baylor got it right back, though, when linebacker Jason Jackson applied a big hit to Tech fullback Sammy Morris, causing a fumble recovered by McKinley Bowie at the 41.
A Raider sack of Alfred lost 11 yards and the Bears wound up using an Alfred quick kick. The play backfired when the Bears were deemed guilty of a personal foul on the return which moved the ball across midfield to the Bear 48.
Bowie came up big again when he sacked Peters for a big loss, forcing an Eric Rosiles punt which put Baylor in action at its own 28.
An Alfred keeper gained 11 yards, but Baylor was forced to punt when a couple of runs gained nothing and an Alfred pass to Lanny O'Steen sailed high. That set the stage for the play that broke it open.
The Red Raider's John Norman fielded Atteberrry's punt at the 80, sidestepped on tackler, broke left and avoided another defender before breaking down to left sideline for a touchdown.
Tech's first punt return for a touchdown since Dane Johnson turned the trick against the Bears in 1997 suddenly made it 21-7 with 2:50 to play in the third.
"I was proud of John Norman on that long punt return," Dykes said. "We had been working on that for a long time. The wall set up well, and he did the rest."
"We gave up the big punt return and it just zapped us. Great football teams that are on a high, high note, something like that keeps them pressing. But when you've had a lot of adversity, I know it can be difficult on anyone. It zapped us a little bit and then things began to steamroll," said Steele.
Baylor's next drive crossed midfield to the Raider 47, but a couple of sacks moved it back to the 28. The Bear special teams broke down again to set the Raiders up for more fast points.
Dorian Pitts broke through for his second blocked punt of the year and Paul Howard recovered and returned it to the eight. Two snaps later Morris, who led all rushers with 98 yards on 19 carries, bounced in from the two to put TT up 28-7 with 14:42 to play.
As the Baylor defense finally wore down the Raiders extended the lead and erased all hopes of a Baylor comeback with a long scoring march. Peters hit Darrell Jones on an 11-yard pass play, capping a 13-play, 62-yard drive that consumed 6:04. With 8:21 to play, the men from Lubbock had built a commanding 35-7 lead
"We kept the defense on the field too long. They probably would have produced a lot better, but they had to stay on the field too long. The kicking game had a big effect, but I'm proud of the defense. The offense had some spurts where they moved the ball. We've got some very positive things out of this game, but we still don't have a victory and that's the most stinging effect of it all," said Steele.
