Graham Harrell leads the nation in passing yardage.
The Texas Tech Red Raiders continued their perfect season today with a 42-25 victory over the Texas A&M Aggies. Graham Harrell had another monstrous game with 450 yards in the air. As far as scores go, the Heisman candidate threw for 3 TDs(2 to Crabtree and 1 to Batch) and scampered in for 2, the latter being with 23 ticks left on the clock. The wideouts for Tech had a great day as a unit, with four players that got at least 7 catches and 50 yards. And, if that isn’t enough offense for you, Sophomore Running Back Baron Batch had 87 yards on 13 rushes with a TD.
Jerrod Johnson had another solid game.
Buried by all of that offensive success is the surprisingly competitive play of the Aggies. They came out of the gates with a mission, and that mission was very simple, “Don’t turn the ball over.” The first half was all about time of possession, which was dominated by the boys in Maroon. This led to a 23-20 lead for the Aggies at halftime. It was the second half when the Aggies lost their control of the offensive game. Jerrod Johnson had a pretty good game(26-39 for 283), but that was diminished by good secondary coverage by the Red Raiders and poor play from his offensive line. WR Ryan Tannehill, who also played QB for a snap, had another great game with 5 catches for 104 yards and a TD.
This game was also filled with key injuries. Though none of them were serious, when Johnson went down, both Tannehill and injured starter Steven McGee(1-1 for 3 and a TD) had to take snaps. Other players that went down with injuries included Michael Crabtree and Mike Goodson.
In the end, Texas Tech is still looking strong, but didn’t make too much of a statement due to their shaky first half. That means, barring an upset, they should stay at #5 overall. As for the Aggies, their sub-par season continues, and their lack of an on the field leader like Steven McGee continues to show. But, on a positive note, Jerrod Johnson continues to mature as the starter and should be in good shape for his Sophomore year.
