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LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) -Texas Tech's running backs don't usually get the ink its receivers do, making Saturday night's performances
by the two who split duty in the backfield stand out all the more.
Baron Batch
had 55 yards on the ground and 68 receiving yards, while
Shannon Woods
, who spent much of last year in coach Mike Leach's doghouse, had 108 yards rushing and 53 yards receiving as the No. 11
Red Raiders
rolled over Massachusetts 56-14.
Together they had 284 total yards, more than half of Tech's 538 of total offense
''I think they compliment each other real well because they literally compete for yards on the ground and in the air,'' Tech
coach Mike Leach said. ''You can kind of tell they're observing one another and bringing the best of the other to their game.''
Graham Harrell
threw for 322 yards and four touchdowns and Woods ran for three scores to help No. 11 Texas Tech.
Texas Tech (4-0) dominated the Minutemen from the outset. The
Red Raiders
scored on six of seven possessions in the first half and led 42-7 at the intermission.
It was the most first-half points for the
Red Raiders
since late September 2006 when they scored 42 points against Southeast Louisiana in an eventually 62-0 win.
And it could have been worse. Tremain Swindall,
Detron Lewis
and All-American
Michael Crabtree
were each unable to hold onto passes in the end zone.
Massachusetts couldn't summon much resistance the rest of the game.
Harrell, who completed passes to 10 different receivers, threw TDs of 17, 12, 2 and 4 yards - and that was in the first half
alone. He was 27-of-34 and no interceptions.
Woods ran for touchdowns of 2, 38 and 18 yards and finished with 108 yards on 10 carries. It was the most rushing yards for
him since he got 109 in a 44-41 win over Minnesota in the 2006 Insight Bowl.
''The doghouse pretty well ended when we started spring and he competed hard,'' Leach said. ''He always has had the ability
to be really polished. When's he's on his A-game he blocks as good as anybody in the league. When he's doing all the little
things right, he's pretty good.''
Woods said Batch helped him hang in when Woods had gone from a starting role in 2006 when he led the Big 12 in all-purpose
yards to being benched for the final four regular-season games last season and getting sent home from Jacksonville prior to
the Gator Bowl as a disciplinary action.
''It was hard, ain't no lying about it,'' Woods said. ''It was tough to play and then not be able to, you know. That's hard.
But I'm happy with myself. I stuck with it.''
The
Red Raiders
have a week off before beginning the Big 12 season at Kansas State on Oct. 4.
Massachusetts' troubles continued to begin the second half. On the third play from scrimmage, Red Raider safety
Darcel McBath
stepped in front a pass from
Liam Coen
to
Julian Talley
and returned it 45 yards to put Texas Tech up 49-7.
Harrell was replaced by
Taylor Potts
with about 11 minutes remaining in the game.
Coen was 13-of-20 for 145 yards, well below his season average of 275 yards per game.
Massachusetts (2-2) avoided a second-half shutout when
Korrey Davis
scored on a 2-yard run with 51 seconds remaining in the game.
''We just couldn't do anything on a consistent basis and we were beaten by a better football team than us today,'' Minutemen
coach
Don Brown
said. ''We've trailed in every football game in the first quarter. In the first two week we were able to overcome, but today
we were not able to overcome it.''
Texas Tech (4-0) wasted little time getting out front, scoring quickly on each its first two possessions in the game. Woods
got the first of two touchdowns in the first half when he carried the ball in from the 2 and Swindall caught his first career
TD when Harrell hit him at the 5 and he ran in from there to put the
Red Raiders
up 14-0.
On the
Red Raiders
third possession, Harrell hit Swindall at the UMass 47 but the redshirt freshman fumbled the ball. Minutemen safety
Brian Ellis
picked it up and started lumbering toward the end zone along the far sideline. Most of the Texas Tech players thought the
pass to Swindall was ruled incomplete and stood and watched as Ellis completed a 53-yard score to make it 14-7. It was Ellis'
first career touchdown.
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