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SAN ANTONIO (Ticker) -- While Kliff Kingsbury has rewritten the Texas Tech record book, the one thing he has not accomplished is win a bowl game. Playing before a hometown crowd, the native of New Braunfels, Texas hopes to change that when the Red Raiders face Iowa in a rematch of the 1996 Alamo Bowl won by the Hawkeyes, 27-0. Kingsbury passed for 3,502 yards in 2001, breaking Texas Tech's single-season mark of 3,437 he set last season. The junior also holds the Red Raiders' career mark with 50 touchdowns, eclipsing Robert Hall's previous mark of 48 with five TD passes in a 58-3 victory over Division I-A Stephen F. Austin on November 24. But Kingsbury lost his only bowl appearance, 40-27, to East Carolina last year in the Galleryfurniture.com Bowl. Texas Tech did not go to a bowl in Kingsbury's freshman year in 1999. A victory will give the Red Raiders (7-4) eight wins for the first time since 1995, when they won the Copper Bowl and finished 9-3. With Kingsbury at the controls, Texas Tech relies heavily on the pass. The Red Raiders rank fifth nationally in passing, averaging 337.3 yards per game, but they are second-to-last in rushing, managing just 81.9 yards per contest. Ricky Williams amassed more than 1,400 yards in total offense for Texas Tech. He rushed for 726 yards and 14 touchdowns on 142 carries and caught 93 passes for 700 yards and four scores. Texas Tech won four of its last five games, with the only loss being a 30-13 defeat to Oklahoma on November 17. The Red Raiders put up a good fight at Nebraska on October 20 before falling, 41-31. Texas Tech is just 0-3 all-time against Big Ten Conference teams, suffering single losses to Iowa, Ohio State and Penn State. The Hawkeyes (6-5) made significant progress this season under third-year coach Kirk Ferentz, winning two more games than the previous two years combined. Iowa went 1-10 in 1999 and 3-9 last season. A win will give the Hawkeyes their first winning campaign since 1997, when they went 7-5 and lost to Arizona State in the Sun Bowl. Iowa closed the regulat season with a 17-14 loss to Iowa State on November 24. The Alamo Bowl could be a high-scoring affair. While Texas Tech averages 35.1 points per game -- third in the Big 12 -- Iowa paced the Big Ten in scoring at 33.8 points per contest. The Hawkeyes surpassed 40 points in five of their six wins, including a 59-16 victory at Northwestern on November 10. Kyle McCann completed nearly 66 percent of his passes (148-of-227) for 1,867 yards with 17 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. His favorite target was Kahlil Hill, who caught 53 passes for 792 yards and eight touchdowns. Ladell Betts paced Iowa on the ground with 1,056 yards and 10 touchdowns on 220 carries. |
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