The Longhorns-Red Raiders Rivalry in Microcosm November 11, 2018

One of the many things to look forward to at the beginning of each November is Bill Connelly’s annually-updated article from SB Nation entitled “November is here.  Now college football season has really begun.”  One key mantra he hammers home:  November is for everything.  Read the article, you’ll understand for yourself.

Of the many cool things to pour over in this article, one is that he gives each calendar date of November its due by pointing to them as college football dates in history.  For example, Nov. 23 is the anniversary of Doug Flutie’s legendary Hail Mary TD pass that beat Miami.  Nov. 20 is when Boston College beat No. 1 Notre Dame on a last-second field goal in 1993.  All these dates are listed chronologically, of course.

And Nov. 1?  No doubt a date that shall live in Longhorn Nation infamy.  For one that day in 2008, Michael Crabtree slipped into the end zone for a touchdown that would defeat undefeated Texas, thus ultimately derailing its national title hopes that year.  Such a win for Texas Tech still sticks in the collective craw of Texas fans to this day, ten years later.

At any rate, ten years and nine days later, Texas exacted a small amount of revenge in Lubbock by scoring a touchdown within the last minute of the game that would seal the deal for the Longhorns.  Lil’Jordan Humphrey (yes, that is his name) even extended himself over the goal line in a similar fashion to what TTU’s Crabtree did a decade earlier.

What is it about Texas Tech that gives a much stronger, much more resource-laden program such fits in the first place?  Perhaps it is a David vs. Goliath complex on the part of the Red Raiders that gets them emotionally pumped to take on the flagship program of the Lone Star State.  Or, maybe Tech’s well-established, high-octane spread offense is one that gives the Horns’ defense fits for whatever reason.  In other words, on paper, Texas should crush Tech most years.  But over the past 10-15 years, this is one of those crazy matchups that gives fans plenty of drama, ergo excitement (not to mention heart palpitations that come with it), as these two games a decade apart attest.  Whatever the reason, we the college football fans are all the more engaged, entertained, and possibly satisfied as a result.