Michael Crabtree caught 19 touchdown passes in 2008
1 THE CRABTREE CATCH TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY HAD NEVER DEFEATED A TOP-RANKED TEAM IN ITS 76 YEARS OF PLAYING COLLEGE FOOTBALL BUT IN 2008 GRAHAM HARRELL MICHAEL CRABTREE AND THE RED RAIDERS HIGH FLYING OFFENSE SET OUT TO MAKE HISTORY AGAINST THE MIGHTY TEXAS LONGHORNS In 1996 Texas Tech became a founding member of the Big 12 Conference The Red Raiders who play in the northwest Texas town of Lubbock had plenty of success in the new conference They had winning records year after year Head coach Mike Leach helped them build a reputation as a high scoring team with a quick strike offense That big offense landed them in the national spotlight during the 2008 season The Red Raiders started the season ranked No. 12 in the preseason Associated Press AP poll That ranking was due in part to the success of the Raiders 2007 squad which went 9-4 and ended the regular season
with a victory over third ranked Oklahoma The No. 12 ranking was Texas Tech's highest in a preseason poll since 1977. The Red Raiders returned 10 players on offense including quarterback Harrell and wide receiver Crabtree two of the best in the country at their positions Texas Tech started the season with four easy wins against nonconference opponents That bumped its ranking to No. 7 when the Big 12 Conference schedule began with the Red Raiders traveling to Kansas State Harrell became the school's leading passer during the second quarter of that game He broke quarterback Kliff Kingsbury's RECORD SETTING RAIDERS Quarterback Graham Harrell and receiver Michael Crabtree filled the Texas Tech record book during the memorable 2008 season Harrell set a school record with 15,793 career passing yards He was the first player in National Collegiate Athletic Association NCAA history with two 5,000 yard passing seasons Harrell also finished his Red Raider career with a school record 134 touchdown passes He threw four touchdown passes in the Cotton Bowl loss to Mississippi That made him the NCAA's leader in career touchdown passes Crabtree left Texas Tech after his sophomore season but two seasons were enough for him to set records He was the program's leader in career receiving yards with 3,127 and touchdown catches with 41 all in just 26 games Crabtree was the first player in NCAA history to win the Biletnikoff Award as the country's best receiver twice He also tied an NCAA record with 13 consecutive games with at least five catches and a touchdown
RED RAIDERS record of 12,429 career passing yards Harrell also threw six touchdown passes in the 58-28 win Crabtree broke a school record a week later during a win against Nebraska Even though he was just a sophomore Crabtree became the school's leader in touchdown receptions with his 31 st scoring catch a 35 yard strike from Harrell in the first quarter The Red Raiders continued to roll putting a combined 106 points in victories at Texas A M and No. 19 Kansas Texas Tech climbed all the way to No. 6 in the AP poll its highest ranking since 1976 Next up was a showdown with the top ranked Longhorns Star quarterback Colt McCoy wide receiver Jordan Shipley and defensive lineman Brian Orakpo had led Texas to an 8-0 record And the Longhorns had won five straight games and eight of their last nine against the Red Raiders They arrived in Lubbock with all the swagger of a bully looking to squash an annoying little brother on the way to much bigger things November 1 2008 was the biggest day in Texas Tech football history ESPN broadcast its popular pregame show College GameDay live from the Lubbock campus that morning A school record crowd of 56,333 people showed up that night And they were thrilled at what they saw on the field The Red Raiders jumped out to a big lead against the top ranked Longhorns On Texas's first offensive play defensive lineman Colby Whitlock slashed through the line of scrimmage and tackled Longhorns THE CRABTREE CATCH
