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LUBBOCK, Texas (Ticker) -- Kliff Kingsbury and Texas Tech proved they are best in state and kept alive their hopes of being best in the Big 12.

Kingsbury threw his sixth touchdown pass of the game, a 25-yarder to Taurean Henderson with 5:41 remaining, as Texas Tech all but ended the Bowl Championship Series hopes of third-ranked Texas with a wild 42-38 victory.

Despite posting eye-popping statistics, Kingsbury often has taken a back seat to Texas quarterback Chris Simms. But Kingsbury outplayed the lefthander, who made a mistake at a key moment in the fourth quarter and lost another big game.

Kingsbury flawlessly orchestrated coach Mike Leach's high-risk offense, completed 38-of-60 passes for 473 yards and became just the sixth player in NCAA history to throw for 4,000 yards and 40 touchdowns in the same season.

"We tried everything, and he whipped everything we tried," Texas coach Mack Brown said.

Texas Tech plays at Oklahoma next week, with the winner facing Colorado in the Big 12 Championship game on December 7.

"We just have to do the same like we did today," Leach said.

Junior running back Wes Welker had a career afternoon for the Red Raiders (8-4, 5-2 Big 12 South) with 247 all-purpose yards. He caught a career-high 14 passes for 169 yards and two TDs, rushed four times for 40 yards and returned three punts for 38.

Kingsbury's screen pass to Henderson put Texas Tech in front in a game that featured five lead changes. A long kickoff return put the Longhorns (9-2, 5-2) in position to regain the lead, but Simms was intercepted by safety Ryan Aycock on the first play from scrimmage and Texas never got back the ball.

On 3rd-and-9 at his own 36-yard line with 2 1/2 minutes to play, Leach called for an option pass. Receiver Mickey Peters took a lateral from Kingsbury and connected with Welker, who raced to the Texas 29.

Simms was 24-of-37 for 345 yards and four touchdowns.

"They all hurt anytime you lose," he said. "This one hurts a lot."

Simms was set to play the hero. One play after Kingsbury hooked up with Nehemiah Glover on a 16-yard TD toss that gave Texas Tech a 35-31 lead, Simms lofted a pass to B.J. Johnson, who completed the 84-yard scoring play and put the Longhorns back in front.

But Kingsbury led the Red Raiders 80 yards in eight plays to the winning score.

Texas built a 14-0 lead in the first quarter on a two-yard run by Cedric Benson and a 17-yard strike from Simms to Roy Williams. Simms and Williams hooked up on another 19-yard TD in the second quarter but only after Kingsbury threw touchdown passes of 23 yards to Welker and 15 yards to Peters.

A 62-yard strike from Kingsbury to Glover forged a 21-21 halftime tie.

The Red Raiders continued to move at will against the nation's fifth-ranked defense, taking their first lead on a five-yard toss from Kingsbury to Welker 5 1/2 minutes into the third quarter.

Simms answered with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Williams that deadlocked the game again heading to the final period.

Texas reclaimed the lead with 13:31 to play on a 35-yard field goal by Dusty Mangum.

The teams combined for 1,043 total yards, with Texas Tech holding a 606-437 advantage. Williams had eight catches for 117 yards and three scores while Johnson caught five passes for 120 yards and a TD.

"Kingsbury did a great job picking our defense apart," Williams said. "Anytime we scored, they responded. They played a great game and did the things they had to."