The Longhorns quieted a rowdy sellout crowd of 60,975 at Jones AT&T Stadium through three-quarters of gameplay, but when tasked with putting the game away in the fourth quarter, No. 22 Texas couldn’t finish the job.

Despite a 10-point lead in the second half, the Longhorns allowed the Red Raiders to stick around, ultimately taking the lead with a 48-yard field goal before the Longhorns quickly responded to force overtime. But on the first play of overtime, junior running back Bijan Robinson coughed up the ball, leading to a quick, game-ending field goal that allowed Texas Tech to walk off with a 37-34 upset win.

“I understand that we get to experience going against these kind(s) of defensive lines and go against them so we can learn from it,” Robinson said. “We learn from it, and that our offensive line can understand that we have got a lot of work to do.”

Despite the loss, sophomore quarterback Hudson Card seemingly had everything figured out on the road in Lubbock. For the first time this season, he connected with sophomore wide receiver Xavier Worthy for a touchdown that kindled momentum for Texas in the second quarter.

Following a 15-yard completion to junior Jordan Whittington, the Texas offense lined up at the Texas Tech 39-yard line. With a clean pocket and no reason to scramble, Card caught sight of Worthy uncovered and a couple of yards shy from the end zone, making the deep throw to the wideout.

“I just looked and saw him wide open,” Card said. “There was no progression, so I just tried to get him the ball.”

Card also involved the running backs early. The duo of Robinson and senior Roschon Johnson combined for 171 yards for the game. Pivotal to head coach Steve Sarkisian’s game plan, Robinson was especially important for extending drives and finding the end zone. In the third quarter, Johnson, sophomore center Jake Majors and sophomore tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders made blocks for Robinson, clearing a running lane straight to the Red Raider end zone to give Texas a 14-point lead.

However impressive Texas’ skill players were, both sides of the ball didn’t take advantage of the opportunities that Texas Tech gave the Longhorns. 

Texas received possession via turnover on downs twice. On one of the two times Texas Tech didn’t convert on fourth down, Card got the ball at the 40-yard-line in enemy territory. After a couple of short rushes and a 5-yard pass, Sarkisian gave the call to run it on fourth down, only to fail the conversion attempt.

“That’s disappointing because we had a chance to really stretch the game out, open the game up and we didn’t,” Sarkisian said. “In the end, they hung around and gave themselves a chance and we ended up losing.”

After Texas’ defense stuffed a rush on a fourth-and-goal attempt from the 2-yard line, the Longhorns took over on downs 7 points ahead of the Red Raiders with 10:18 left in the game. However, sophomore quarterback Hudson Card could do little with the space he had, no thanks to a delay-of-game penalty provoked by a rowdy Red Raider student section, forcing a quick three-and-out.

Deep in Texas territory, Texas Tech used the short field to tie up the ballgame at 31 points each. After a failed five-play effort in response, Texas punted the ball away once more, before allowing the Red Raiders to take a 3-point lead with 21 seconds left in the game.

While Texas put together a quick 21-second drive that ended in a successful 48-yard field goal from freshman kicker Bert Auburn to send the game into overtime, the Longhorns were fatigued. That’s when Robinson fumbled to begin the extra period during a rush up the middle, setting up Texas Tech for one more field goal to nail Texas’ coffin.

Sarkisian attributed the fourth quarter decline to a lack in mental discipline. In addition to the turnovers, the defense failed to get Texas Tech off the field during third-and-long situations because of numerous penalties.

“Our inability to get off the field was a real factor. They went for it eight times on fourth down and got six of them,” Sarkisian said. “Some of the errors and things that occurred early in the game that we didn’t take advantage of reared their ugly head late because the game became what the game was.”