Crabtree TD with 1 second left lifts Tech

LUBBOCK - It was as risky a pass as Graham Harrell has ever thrown. Also the most important.

With the final seconds ticking off and Texas Tech trailing by one point, the Texas Tech quarterback saw Michael Crabtree in double coverage and let it fly. The All-American wide receiver snagged it on the sideline, shook off a defender and ducked into the end zone with one second left.

With that stunning 28-yard touchdown, the No. 6 Red Raiders turned near-heartbreak into a wild victory, 39-33 over No. 1 Texas on Saturday night.

Texas Tech showed it's tops in the Lone Star State - and maybe even the best team in the land.

"Play 60 minutes," Texas Tech coach Mike Leach said. "You may have a second to spare."

That's what it came down in a West Texas-style shootout that had the Longhorns (8-1, 4-1 Big 12) rally from a 19-0 deficit in the first half and from 29-13 in the third quarter to take a 33-32 lead with Vondrell McGee's 4-yard TD run with 1:29 to play.

The problem was, Texas left Harrell too much time.

Harrell drove the Red Raiders (9-0, 5-0) 62 yards to the touchdown in six plays, slinging the long pass to Crabtree, who broke the tackle of Curtis Brown, kept his balance, stayed in bounds and scooted the last few yards for a score.

"On the sideline, I kind of dreamed that I would catch a pass and go in the end zone for a game-winning score. I do that, like every game, but it happened. It kind of shocked me," Crabtree said.

Tech really just needed about 10 yards to set up a field goal for Donnie Carona, who had been benched earlier this season but kicked a 42-yarder in the fourth quarter. But Harrell took a big chance with the big throw.

If Crabtree had been tackled instead of getting in, Texas Tech might have had a hard time calling its last timeout to set up a short field goal before time expired.

"All we needed was a field goal, but a touchdown's even sweeter," Harrell said. "If you're a quarterback and don't want to be in that situation, you should probably change positions."

Thousands of Texas Tech fans poured onto the field and had to be sent off while the play was under review to make sure Crabtree didn't step out of bounds. Once the fans were chased off the field and Tech kicked the extra point, the Red Raiders were penalized and forced to kick off from their own 7.

When Texas couldn't pull off a miracle kickoff return, the fans ran back on the field to celebrate the biggest win in Texas Tech history. The victory not only gave the Red Raiders command of the Big 12 South, it puts them smack in the chase for the national title, quite a leap for a program usually left behind by conference powers Texas and Oklahoma.

In fact, maybe Texas Tech shoots to the top of the rankings and the BCS standings? More likely, Alabama moves to No. 1. The question is whether the Red Raiders, on the strength of their first victory against a No. 1 team, can jump over the likes of Florida, Southern California and unbeaten Penn State on Sunday.

Just like Texas over the last month, the Red Raiders also face a daunting schedule the next three weeks. Texas Tech hosts No. 9 Oklahoma State next weekend, then has a bye week before traveling to No. 4 Oklahoma. They finish the regular season at home against Baylor.

"Now the biggest game in history is Oklahoma State," Leach said, "or the history of this year, anyway."

Harrell, who may have jumped ahead of Texas quarterback Colt McCoy in the Heisman Trophy race, finished with 474 yards and two touchdowns on 36-of-53 passing.

"Some of you guys maybe ought to add him to your Heisman list," Leach told reporters after the game. "I know how political it is."

McCoy has nothing to be ashamed of, throwing for 294 yards and two touchdowns and nearly leading his 10th career comeback in game where he was sacked four times and had his face bloodied on a hard hit in the third quarter. He did have an interception returned for a touchdown in the third.

"They played harder than us," McCoy said. "The crowd was behind them the whole game. They never quit. They kept fighting."

Texas had just appeared to pull off a stunning rally behind McCoy, who threw second-half touchdown passes of 37 and 91 yards to Malcolm Williams and led Texas on a grinding drive to its final touchdown after Texas Tech's Carona kicked a field goal for a six-point lead.

McGee's burst stunned the home crowd until a big kickoff return by Jamar Wall gave the Red Raiders the ball at their own 38 and time to move. Harrell hit on four straight passes, to get the ball in Texas territory. He also got a break when Texas freshman safety Blake Gideon dropped what would have been a game-ending interception on a tipped ball.

"I was sick, I was thinking, ‘Surely, we're not going to lose like this,'" Harrell said.

Given another chance, he and Crabtree came through.

"It's the biggest catch I ever made," said Crabtree, who had 10 catches for 127 yards.

Given the chance to make a national statement, Texas Tech looked early like it would dismiss the Longhorns in a rout. The Red Raiders belted Texas on the Longhorns' on first play and kept hammering away for the entire first half.

Backed up on the Texas 2 in front of the raucous student section, McCoy handed off to Chris Ogbonnaya, who never got out of the end zone when he was dropped for a safety by defensive tackle Colby Whitlock.

The Red Raiders were just getting started.

Texas Tech made it 19-0 when Harrell found Eric Morris with a soft throw just beyond a defender's reach for an 18-yard TD and the Red Raiders led 22-6 at halftime.

Matt Williams, the kicker Leach plucked from the stands after watching him win a promotional kicking contest six weeks ago, made field goals of 29 and 31 yards. He was pulled for Carona in the second half after he had a field goal blocked.

Jordan Shipley gave Texas life with a 45-yard punt return for a touchdown in the third quarter.

Still, Texas appeared done when Daniel Charbonnet returned McCoy's only interception for a touchdown and a 29-13 Texas Tech lead.

But McCoy, who has led nine come-from-behind wins in his career, had the Longhorns storming back and in position to win.

"Football is a tough game," Texas coach Mack Brown said. "Tonight was their night, we need to be classy in defeat and give them credit for what they did."

Johnson, Hunter lead Texas A&M to 24-17 win

COLLEGE STATION - Texas A&M coach Mike Sherman needed more than halftime to tell his players what they needed to fix to beat Colorado on Saturday.

Sherman delivered a quick pep talk on the sideline after the break and the Aggies took over in the third quarter and beat the Buffaloes 24-17 at Kyle Field.

Jerrod Johnson threw three touchdown passes in the quarter and Trent Hunter intercepted two passes in the fourth as the Aggies won for the second time in six home games this season.

"I talked to them at halftime," Sherman said. "But then I thought it would be better suited to talk to them right there on the field, to re-emphasize my message that the first half was totally unacceptable and they're not living up to their part of the bargain.

"They came out and performed to their level and my level of expectation in the second half."

A&M trailed 10-3 at the break, then outgained Colorado 202-55 in the third quarter to take a 24-10 lead. Johnson went 8-for-13 in the quarter and finished 15-for-31 for 214 yards.

"Coach is really involved in everything we do. He's a passionate coach," Johnson said. "He knew he could get more out of us. He kind of told us to get our heads together, get everything straight and just play."

Freshman quarterback Tyler Hansen rushed 16 times for 86 yards, but threw the two late interceptions for the Buffaloes (4-5, 1-4), who've lost five of their last six games.

To make matters worse for the Buffaloes, leading rusher Rodney Stewart broke his right leg in the second quarter, when he was taken down on a horse-collar tackle by A&M linebacker Von Miller. Miller was flagged for a personal foul.

Stewart, a freshman, was the Big 12's fourth-leading rusher, averaging 75.4 yards per game. Coach Dan Hawkins did not say how long Stewart would be out, but said the injury was serious.

"They're scrapping and they're battling some things," Hawkins said of his team. "At some point, life and football becomes more about a cause than anything else and if you can dig in your heels and strap it up, that's a good thing. They did that, just not good enough to win."

Colorado held A&M to 76 yards in the first half, but Johnson went 4-for-4 on the Aggies' first drive of the second, finishing it with a 32-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Tannehill. Later in the third quarter, Johnson threw a 59-yard touchdown pass to freshman Jeff Fuller down the sideline to give A&M its first lead.

"It was just lack of execution in the first half," Johnson said. "At halftime, Coach did a good job of keeping everybody together. Everybody came out in the second half and executed well."

Cyrus Gray broke a 54-yard run on the Aggies' next possession. Gray started for leading rusher Mike Goodson, who sat out the second straight game with a sprained left knee.

Johnson threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Fuller on the last play of the third quarter. Fuller leads the Aggies with seven touchdown catches.

"Our team was in the zone, as far as play calling, the guys up front," said Johnson. "I think that was our most productive quarter. We just came together and executed when the opportunities were given."

A&M defensive end Cyril Obiozor sacked Hansen on consecutive plays early in the fourth quarter. The Buffaloes gained only 75 yards on their first four possessions after halftime.

Hunter got his first interception with 8:11 left. But after an Aggies' punt, Colorado drove 98 yards in 11 plays and cut the deficit to 24-17 on Demetrius Sumler's 10-yard touchdown run with 2:59 remaining.

A&M punted again, but Hunter made a diving interception along the sideline with 2:29 left to put the game away.

Johnson averaged 361 passing yards and thrown six touchdown passes in the last three games, but he went 6-for-14 for 62 yards in the first half.

After Johnson fumbled on A&M's first series, Cody Hawkins, Colorado's other quarterback, took a lateral from running back Darrell Scott and found tight end Riar Geer down the sideline for a 23-yard gain. Three plays later, Stewart scored on a 6-yard run to put the Buffaloes ahead.

Hansen replaced Hawkins for Colorado's fourth possession. Coach Dan Hawkins took off Hansen's redshirt three weeks ago and has been alternating Hansen and Hawkins.

Kicker Aric Goodman hit the upright on a 46-yard field-goal try, his seventh consecutive miss. Goodman slipped to 3-for-11 on field-goal tries this season.

A&M's Randy Bullock kicked a 39-yard field goal with 5:43 left in the first half.

After Stewart was injured, Scott leapfrogged an A&M defender on a 42-yard run, the Buffaloes' longest play from scrimmage this season. But A&M cornerback Jordan Pugh intercepted Hawkins in the end zone with 2:40 left in the half.

"Part of it was big because I got the interception, I was excited," Pugh said. "As far as momentum, I thought it was big. We needed to have that stop."

Colorado got the ball back and freshman Jameson Davis, who handles kickoffs, booted a 30-yard field goal with 3 seconds left.

-- Chris Duncan

Missouri escapes with 31-28 win at Baylor

WACO - Chase Daniel passed for 318 yards and three touchdowns and Jeff Wolfert kicked a 34-yard field goal with 2:31 remaining to help No. 14 Missouri escape with a 31-28 victory over Baylor on Saturday in a game the Tigers could have put out of reach early.

Baylor (3-6, 1-4 Big 12), which had twice came back from 14-point deficits but never led, had one last chance late. But Brock Christopher's interception with 1:40 left - the first thrown by freshman Robert Griffin in 210 attempts this season - finally clinched it for the Tigers (7-2, 3-2).

Daniel threw two interceptions, the first on the first play of the second quarter when Joe Pawelek picked off a pass in the end zone to keep Missouri from adding to a 14-0 lead.

Led by Griffin, who finished 26-of-35 for 283 yards with two TD passes and established a major college record for most passes at the start of a career without an interception, Baylor had long scoring drives on each of its first three possessions after halftime.

Griffin's 36-yard TD pass to Jay Finley with 9:54 left tied the game at 28, and Baylor got the ball back four plays later. Daniel's throw to Chase Coffman was high, deflecting off the tight end's outstretched hand and picked off by Jordan Lake near midfield.

But the Bears couldn't get a first down, forced to punt after a false start penalty when they were lined up and set to go for it on fourth-and-4.

Missouri then went 75 yards on 13 plays for the game-winning field goal.

The Tigers, their national championship hopes dashed by consecutive losses before a 58-0 victory over Colorado last week, jumped in front when Daniel threw TDs on the first two drives less than 8 minutes into the game.

They can still get back to the Big 12 championship game for the second straight season, if they can beat struggling Kansas State and Iowa State before a likely showdown for the North Division title against Kansas in the regular season finale.

Daniel finished 30-of-38. Coffman had 10 catches for 75 yards, Tommy Saunders had seven for 109 yards and a score and Derrick Washington rushed 14 times for 97 yards.

Baylor, looking for a signature victory under first-year coach Art Briles, lost its 16th straight game against ranked teams over the past five seasons. The previous 15 had been by an average margin of nearly 30 points.

Griffin broke the record for most pass attempts to start a career without an interception, passing the 202 of Southern California's Brad Otton from 1994-95. Griffin had already set the FBS record for most attempts by a freshman to start a career, with 175 before Saturday.

He came four short of the overall Big 12 record of 213 consecutive passes without throwing a pick.

Baylor opened the second half with a 12-play, 69-yard drive and got within 21-14 when Ray Sims scored on a 2-yard run. After Mizzou went three-and-out, Griffin's 16-yard pass to Brad Taylor tied the game after another 12-play drive.

The Tigers went back ahead when Coffman caught a 13-yard TD pass, getting one foot down in the back left corner of the end zone. Like his 3-yard scoring catch in the back right corner on the opening drive of the game, officials had to look at replay to confirm the touchdown.

But Baylor got even again with an 80-yard drive that ended with Finley's TD.

After Pawelek's early interception, Griffin scored on a 4-yard keeper.

Missouri then fumbled, but Baylor failed to capitalize and Missouri went 93 yards after a punt to take a 21-7 halftime lead on Jimmy Jackson's 1-yard run.

-- Stephen Hawkins

College Football Today

STARS

-Texas Tech receiver Michael Crabtree caught 10 passes, including the winning 28-yard touchdown pass with 1 second to play, as the seventh-ranked Red Raiders beat No. 1 Texas 39-33. Crabtree shook off a tackler at the Texas 5-yard line on the final play, and if he had been tackled inbounds the clock likely would have expired.

-Northwestern safety Brendan Smith picked off a pass and returned it 48 yards to score with 12 seconds remaining, lifting Northwestern past stunned Minnesota 24-17.

-Kansas tailback Jake Sharp had 257 total yards and tied a school record with four touchdowns as the Jayhawks ripped Kansas State 52-21.

-Dennis Johnson returned a kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown for the decisive touchdown as Arkansas defeated No. 19 Tulsa 30-23 victory, handing the Golden Hurricane (8-1) its first defeat.

-Central Michigan backup quarterback Brian Brunner threw for a school-record 485 yards and four touchdowns, then ran 1 yard for the go-ahead score as the Chippewas upset Indiana 37-34.

-Iowa State's Leonard Johnson broke the major college football single-game record with 319 kickoff return yards on 9 attempts. Johnson broke the mark on a 26-yard return midway through the third quarter at No. 9 Oklahoma State. Earlier in the game, Johnson had returns of 72, 73 and 48 yards. Johnson broke a record set by Justin Miller of Clemson, who had 282 kickoff return yards against Florida State on Sept. 25, 2004.

RESTART THE CAROUSEL

No. 6 Texas Tech's heart-pounding 39-33 victory over top-rated Texas - the Red Raiders' first over a No. 1 team - should make for an interesting Sunday in the polls. The Longhorns were the unanimous No. 1 in the last Associated Press Top 25, and their 65 first-place votes are up for grabs, with Alabama, Penn State and Texas Tech all presenting strong succession cases. Likewise, there will be a change atop the Bowl Championship Series standings for the first time. But the Red Raiders shouldn't celebrate for too long. They face No. 9 Oklahoma State next week in Lubbock and then visit fourth-ranked Oklahoma on Nov. 22.

CELEBRATE THIS

The last time Florida and Georgia met, the Bulldogs pulled a brazen end zone celebration on their way to a 42-30 victory. Payback was painful. The fifth-ranked Gators hammered No. 8 Georgia 49-10 as Tim Tebow accounted for five touchdowns and Percy Harvin scored twice in one of the most anticipated matchups in the history of the storied rivalry. Georgia didn't score a touchdown until the final three minutes, and the celebration was a bit more muted this time. Ranked No. 1 in the preseason, the Bulldogs (7-2, 4-2 SEC) now need a miracle to win the SEC East.

THEY'RE HISTORY

Michigan's 48-42 loss at Purdue dropped the Wolverines to 2-7, which means Michigan's string of 33 straight bowl appearances will end. Michigan also set a school record for losses and is assured of its first losing season since 1967. "I'm going to keep going back to work. What do you want me to say?" said first-year coach Rich Rodriguez, who will be paid $2.5 million this season alone to keep going back to work. Rodriguez is an offensive whiz, but his Wolverines were suckered on a short completion and a lateral for the decisive touchdown with 26 seconds remaining in regulation.

ANY KICK YOU CAN DO...

Pitt's Conor Lee and Notre Dame's Brandon Walker staged a memorable placekicking duel. Walker and Lee both hit field goals in the first period, and each of them added three PATs in regulation. Then Walker and Lee connected on field goals in each of the first three overtimes. But Walker missed a 38-yard in the fourth overtime and Lee was perfect from 22 yards out to give the Panthers a dramatic 36-33 victory. "It's something I think every kicker wants to have happen," Lee said. "I was like, ‘I guess I won the game. Time to celebrate.' "

LOOK OUT BELOW

On Sept. 14, Wisconsin was 3-0 and ranked eighth and Auburn was 3-0 and ranked 10th. Both teams are 1-5 since then.

HEADS UP, TROJANS

California maintained command of its own Rose Bowl destiny with a rainy 26-16 victory over No. 23 Oregon in Berkeley. The Golden Bears (6-2, 4-1 Pac-10) visit conference leader USC (7-1, 5-1) next week in a pivotal Pac-10 game.

STATE OF DISREPAIR

It was a long day for the state of Washington. The Washington State Cougars took a 58-0 whipping at Stanford. A few hours later, the Washington Huskies absorbed a 56-0 loss at No. 7 USC. The Cougars fell to 1-8, with a victory over Portland State, while 0-8 Washington is the nation's only winless major-college squad.

BY THE NUMBERS

Notre Dame is 0-3 against teams that entered this week with a winning record. The Fighting Irish blew a two-touchdown halftime lead over Pitt at home on Saturday. ... Auburn had as many punts as points in a 17-7 loss at Ole Miss. ... Western Michigan's Tim Hiller passed for 339 yards and three touchdowns as the Broncos beat Eastern Michigan 31-10. Hiller topped 300 passing yards for the fourth consecutive game and became the third Western Michigan quarterback to pass for more than 7,000 career yards (7,211). ... Georgia's three worst losses since 1969 have come against Florida. Saturday's 49-10 drubbing was the second worst. The Bulldogs also lost to their border rivals by 38 in 1994 and 40 in 1996. ... After Florida State's Marcus Sims fumbled into the end zone in the final minute, Georgia Tech defeated to beat the 16th-ranked Seminoles 31-28. The Yellow Jackets beat Florida State for the first time since 1975, after going 0-12 against Bobby Bowden and the Seminoles in the ACC. ... Western Carolina knocked off Chattanooga 27-7 in Cullowhee, N.C., to snap a 20-game Southern Conference losing streak. ... Since losing at Oregon State on Sept. 25, USC has allowed a total of 20 points in 20 quarters. The Trojans notched their third shutout in that span with a 56-0 rout of Washington on Saturday.

SPEAKING

"Everything is kind of in disarray right now." - Wisconsin safety Chris Maragos, after a last-second 25-24 loss to Michigan State, the Badgers' fifth loss in six games.

"It's a weight off our shoulders. All we heard about was Georgia, Georgia, Georgia." - Florida safety Ahmad Black after the Gators' 49-10 rout of the Bulldogs.