LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — Taj Brooks ran for 172 yards with the game-tying and game-winning touchdowns, Behren Morton threw two TDs to Coy Eakin, and Texas Tech hung on Saturday night. Although they beat Cincinnati 44-41, the Bearcats missed by one point. He attempted a 51-yard field goal on the final play of the game.
“This game had a lot of ups and downs, but they just kept fighting,” Tech coach Joey McGuire said of his team.
Shortly after the Red Raiders’ only punt after a two-minute timeout, Cincinnati (3-2, 1-1 Big 12) went 58 yards from its own 10. Nathan Hawks’ game-ending kick went wide. It came off.
“We had a hard time slowing them down, but we did what we had to do at the end,” Cincinnati manager Scott Satterfield said. “I feel like I’m running out of time. … There were some unfortunate things that happened on the last drive.”
Brendan Thorsby, who finished with 426 yards and 4 TD passes, had completions of 28 and 19 yards, but the Bearcats lost 20 seconds on two clock runs off. The first time was after an injury, and the other time after the quarterback took a shot as he slid at the end of a sprint and a potential targeting penalty was considered but not enforced. Ta.
“You can’t make something like that up,” Satterfield said. “But at the end of the day, we just didn’t play well enough tonight to win.”
Morton completed 19 of 29 passes for 251 yards and the Red Raiders (4-1) improved to 2-0 in the Big 12 for the first time since 2013. They have won their last six home games with a record of 14 wins and 3 losses. In three seasons of McGuire.
“The guys we have in the locker room want to fight and want to win,” Brooks said.
Brooks scored a 1-yard TD run with 1:39 left in the first half, tying the game at 24 points. Tech decided to stay after linebacker Jacob Rodriguez recovered a fumble and Brooks ran it for a 2-yard score just 2 1/2 minutes into the half.
Early in the fourth quarter, AJ McCarty returned an interception 51 yards for a Tech touchdown for a 41-27 lead. This was Thorsby’s 149th attempt and his first selection of the season.
Cincinnati lost running backs Corey Kiner and Evan Pryor to unspecified injuries. Kiner only had three carries on Cincinnati’s opening drive. Pryor scored a 1-yard TD, but did not return after a 36-yard carry in the third quarter.
Third-team freshman running back Manny Covey ran a screen pass for a 71-yard score two plays after Thorsby’s interception. Gino Garcia kicked a 27-yard field goal for the Red Raiders, and Covey added a 3-yard TD catch with 3:32 left.
The Hawks made field goals of 37 and 26 yards, but also missed a 42-yard attempt on the final play of the first half.
Take-out
Cincinnati: The Bearcats finished with 555 total yards, but their offense became pretty one-dimensional as Kiner and Pryor were both injured and fell behind after halftime. When Pittsburgh kicked the game-winning field goal on September 7, Cincinnati had trailed by just 17 seconds through the first four games.
Texas Tech: The Red Raiders are 9-1 in one-possession games at home under McGuire, with their last five Big 12 wins coming by one point.
“It says a lot about this team that this team is so resilient,” McGuire said. “They’re a brand. When you’re tough and work hard during the game and throughout the week, you get stats like that.”
100 or more
Brooks had his 16th career 100-yard rushing game, fourth in four years and 12th in the past 15 games. He didn’t break the century record during that span, gaining at least 95 yards in each of those three games.
to the next
Cincinnati: Has an open day before playing UCF on Oct. 12.
Texas Tech: Plays Big 12 newcomer Arizona next Saturday night.
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