Red Raiders Bring Big Guns to Austin
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

After the amazing events of last Saturday, when several of the remaining unbeaten teams either lost (Florida State, Penn State) or stole victories in the final minutes (USC, UCLA), the college football schedule takes a bit of a breather this weekend, with just three games between ranked teams. One is among just three possible games between undefeated teams remaining on the schedule,while the other two will help shape the SEC conference title race.
NO. 7 TEXAS TECH (6-0, 3-0) AT NO. 2 TEXAS (6-0, 3-0), SATURDAY, 3:30 P.M., ABC
After ceding the spotlight to USC last week, all eyes will be on the Texas Longhorns Saturday as they host Texas Tech and its ridiculously prolific passing offense. Texas, which holds the coveted second spot behind USC in initial BCS rankings, hasn’t been challenged since its come-from-behind win over Ohio State in September. Since then, the Longhorns have won four straight by an average score of 47-15,and a victory here would all but wrap up the Big 12 South title.
But the Red Raiders also have designs on a spot in the Big 12 title game. To call their offense explosive is an understatement; Tech leads the nation in passing yards per game (an outrageous 472 per contest) and points per game at 53.7.A creampuff non-conference schedule still leaves Tech a bit short of “national power” status, but coach Mike Leach is building a program that is at least garnering national attention if not always respect. He makes no apologies for running up scores – including an 80-21 squeaker over Division I-AA Sam Houston State earlier this year that included 54 attempted passes.
But Leach’s team doesn’t just obliterate patsies – Tech scored 70 on Nebraska last season and is coming off a 59-20 pasting of Kansas State in which senior quarterback Cody Hodges completed 44 of 65 passes for 643 yards and five touchdowns. Numbers like those hardly raise eyebrows around Lubbock these days. Hodges’s day was good for the fourth-highest passing yardage total in NCAA history, but didn’t even set the school record.
Texas doesn’t exactly run a ball-control offense – only Ohio State managed to hold the Longhorns below 42 points this season – but they do have the offensive balance to keep Hodges on the sidelines for long stretches.Texas’s offensive line should dominate the Tech front, creating running lanes for both quar terback Vince Young and his tailbacks.
On defense, Texas will cede to Tech some yards and points, but the Red Raiders receivers – four of whom had 100-yard days against Kansas State – won’t find the running room against the Texas secondary that they’re used to, and Hodges won’t have the same time to throw.That’s because Texas’s enormous defensive line should also win the battle of the line of scrimmage.
If Texas Tech can pull off a stunner, it will prove it’s more than just the latest program to post obscene passing numbers only to wilt against powerful, balanced teams, and it could ride a win all the way to the Rose Bowl. But if the Longhorns race out to a big lead,coaches all over America will be rooting for them to serve Tech a dose of its own medicine by airing it out right to the end.
NO. 19 TENNESSEE (3-2, 2-2) AT NO. 5 ALABAMA (6-0, 4-0), SATURDAY, 3:30 P.M., CBS
Tennessee-Alabama is an SEC border war that doesn’t need much in the way of subplots to get the fans’ blood pumping. So the fact that Alabama fans believe Tennessee coach Phil Fulmer was the whistle-blower responsible for NCAA sanctions a few years ago is like dropping a lit match into a puddle of gasoline. The Tide faithful will be in full throat from the opening kickoff at Bryant-Denny Stadium, and would like nothing more than to send the Volunteers back to the locker room with a thunderous rendition of the Rammer Jammer Yellowhammer battle cry, the one that ends “we just beat the hell out of you!”
Tennessee is no doubt reeling from its second defeat of the season, a 27-14 home loss to Georgia two weeks ago. Still, Alabama must play much better than last week, when the Tide needed a last-play field goal to beat Ole Miss 13-10. Alabama looked nothing like the team that dismantled Florida 31-3 in its previous outing, but were the Tide just flat after having two weeks to revel in the triumph over the Gators, or were there other factors at work? Alabama lost its best playmaker, the dynamic receiver Tyrone Prothro, to injury late in the Florida game, and the other Tide receivers were unable to stretch the field against Ole Miss. It was left up to quarterback Brodie Croyle to scramble and create plays on the game-winning drive.
Things won’t get any easier against Tennessee.The Vols have disappointed this year, but not because of the defense, which is the nation’s 16th best.That’s still 11 spots behind Alabama, so don’t expect a lot of points in this one.Tennessee must hope that quarterback Rick Clausen has healed enough during the week off to make a big play or two. Alabama is in the driver’s seat in the SEC West,but must keep winning with Auburn and LSU – both still to come on the schedule – nipping at its heels.
NO. 18 AUBURN (5-1, 3-0) AT NO. 6 LSU (4-1, 3-1), SATURDAY, 7:45 P.M., ESPN
What the SEC lacks in dominant teams – Alabama is the power conference’s lone unbeaten school – it makes up for with the kind of depth that produces top-notch games on a weekly basis.
LSU has been in a number of those contests, the latest an uneven win over Florida last week in which the Tigers scratched out a 21-17 triumph despite five turnovers, 11 penalties, and five allowed sacks. A similar effort could add up to a loss against rapidly improving Auburn squad, which has been operating strictly under the radar since a seasonopening loss to Georgia Tech.
The schedule has played a large part in Auburn’s rise; its five straight wins have come against teams with a combined record of 13-17, and that includes Division I-AA Western Kentucky’s 5-1 mark. Still, after having the roster of last year’s 13-0 team raided by the NFL draft, Auburn seems to be finding its footing. One of the new starters, quarterback Brandon Cox, will face by far his toughest challenge of the season from an LSU defense that harassed would-be Heisman candidate Chris Leak into one of the worst games of his career last week.
LSU quarterback JaMarcus Russell has also had his ups and downs, but received a huge boost from senior running back Joseph Addai (156 yards against Florida) last week. If Russell can avoid costly turnovers, LSU will set itself up to challenge Alabama for the SEC West title.
Mr. Levine is a writer for FootballOutsiders.com.