Long Live the Matadors!

This weekend was one of the best weekends that i have ever experienced. If you have not seen the game on Saturday which was nationally televised, then kick back and read about possibly the greatest college football game ever played. But before we get ahead of ourselves, lets start at the beginning of the week last week. ESPN announced that thier College Gameday would be broadcast from Lubbock to fully cover the game between #1 Texas and #7 Texas Tech. Gameday has never been to Lubbock before. As a side note, Texas Tech never gets any respect from the press so this made it especially rare. As the week progressed people began to camp out in front of the stadium to ensure a descent seat at the game. By Thursday night there were over two thousand people camped in tents outside Jones Stadium. Halloween Friday approached and the anticipation mounted and countless students dawned pirate costumes in spirit with Coach Leach's study of pirate lore. When i woke up on saturday i went to the site on campus where they were filming College Gameday. Thousands of Tech fans cheering in the background of Corso, Herbstreet, and Fowler. Coach Knight came on and predicted "I deeply hope we beat their asses!" Lee Corso put on a Raider Red mask and we were ready for the big game.

Waiting in line for the ticket gate (Praise the Lord for season tickets!) we came to find out that most of the students had been waiting since 8 or 9am to get into the student gate for the 7pm game. Sitting in the student section was like sitting in a sea of black tshirts accented with fans decked out in their best pirate attire. As the game began Tech looked awesome. Touchdowns, a safety, fieldgoals, sacks, and interceptions were the Red Raiders for the taking the first half. The Longhorns didnt score one touchdown in the entire first half. Throughout the whole game the extatic fans garbed in all black, were roaring with cheers and glory for the performance seen before us.

Then at the halftime show the Goin Band from Raiderland took the stage. Coach Leach came on the big screen and asked the Fans if they wanted to be pirates. and we answered with a resounding "AHHRRRR". He then asked the band the same question, to which they answered accordingly. Then they started playing the epic theme song from Pirates of the Carribean. It was the best Marching band performance i have ever seen. The Crowd was standing up for the show which is saying something considering that sitting time is a priceless possession. Everything from the pirate bandanas to the mid song brawl that broke out and spread through the whole ensemblem, to the band of student pirates parading around the field cheering and jeering as pirates most likely would. It was magical. As i sat and watched i knew it was a once in a lifetime experience. Here is a very pixelated glimpse of that performance. I will warn you that it doesnt do it justice.



Then comes the second half. The longhorns and the referee's made one heck of an effort to put Texas back in the game. They succeeded. Through a few illegal play that were not called by the officials and through a few more bad calls, Texas' defence held the Red Raiders to zero offensive touchdowns. The Longhorns took the lead for the first time with only 1minute 30 seconds left in the game. Then Tech drove down the field and on the final play, Graham Harrell threw to Michael Crabtree who avoided two defenders, stayed in bounds and crossed into the endzone victoriously...... all this with 1 second left on the clock. Extra point made, kick off kicked and Texas Tech has beaten the #1 Texas Longhorns in the greatest football game i have ever seen, let alone attended. Tech football got its 500th win, its first win against a #1 ranked team. The stadium errupted, fans went berserk, rushed the field and the rest is history