Primetime Raiders
November 18, 2007 | Football
Nov. 18, 2007
By Kate Meriwether, Texas Tech Media Relations
The Texas Tech football team shined in the national spotlight in its last game of the season at home Saturday night against third-ranked Oklahoma. The game was aired nationally on ABC Sports and was live in front of 55,038 fans, the fourth-largest crowd in school history.
The game's emotional level was high because of the rich history between the two teams. In 2005, Tech beat the Sooners in the last seconds of the game. Last year, the Sooners defeated the Raiders, 34-24, and out-scored Tech 24-0 in the second half.
The win over the Sooners matches the highest-ranked opponent that Tech has defeated in school history. Back on Nov. 16, 2002, Tech also ended the national championship hopes of the third-ranked Texas Longhorns as Tech scored a 42-38 win.
This was also the first nationally televised game on ABC Sports in the Mike Leach era. The importance of this game to the Tech fans was apparent by their attendance and commitment to supporting their team.
"The fans were excellent," Leach said. "As you walked into our stadium, you could feel it. This is the best place to play in college football. The people were loud and they roared like crazy."
Another contribution to the emotional level of the evening was the fact that it was senior night.
Tech said goodbye to 16 seniors including place kicker, Alex Trilica, wide receiver Danny Amendola and cornerback Chris Parker.
Parker who finished his last home game with four tackles and one interception, said that ending the season with a win over the Sooners was great.
"You always want to go out on top," Parker said. "I think you can't go out any better way than that."
Amendola contributed a lot to Tech's winning season with 103 receptions for 1,177 yards and five touchdowns this season. In his final game he had nine receptions for 81 yards.
Place kicker Alex Trlica's contribution to the Red Raiders this season has been undeniable, with a total of 99 points this season. In his last home game he broke the NCAA record with 227 points in his career.
Trlica said that the contribution of the team meant more than breaking the record.
With this win the Raiders are 7-1 on senior days under head coach Mike Leach. He said that this win was huge.
"I thought it was the ultimate team effort," Leach said. "There were huge contributions by defense, huge contributions by special teams, and huge contributions by offense."
