The Texas Tech Red Raiders beat the Ole Miss Rebels in Wednesday night’s TaxAct Texas Bowl in Houston 42-25 to improve to 2-1 all-time in Texas Bowl play.
It’s Tech’s third visit to the Texas Bowl, after having appeared in 2012 and 2015. The Red Raiders are 1-1 in previous Texas Bowl games played.
Tech poured on both defense and offense in the first half, holding a 26-7 lead behind two rushing touchdowns and a passing touchdown from quarterback Tyler Shough. Kicker Trey Wolf added two field goals.
The defense was part of the story in the first half too, with three total turnovers in the first half, forcing two interceptions from Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart.
The Rebels got back on the board early in the second half with a touchdown pass from Dart to Jordan Watkins that narrowed the Tech lead to 26-13 after a failed two-point conversion by Ole Miss.
Tech tried to answer on the next possession but Wolff missed from 41 yards on his third field goal attempt. Then after holding Ole Miss immediately afterward, Shough was strip-sacked as the Rebels turned up the heat defensively. Ole Miss got the ball at mid-field with a chance to make it a close game.
But the Tech defense held again as Ole Miss failed to convert on another fourth-down attempt. Ole Miss finished the night 1-for-6 on fourth-down attempts and just 2-of-9 on third down.
The Rebels made a game of it late with a 19-yard touchdown from Dart to Heath that made it a 10-point game at 35-25 and attempted an onside kick. The kick was fielded cleanly by Loic Fouonji and returned for a touchdown and a 42-25 Tech lead.
Credit Ole Miss for not giving up and playing hard through the final whistle. The Rebels moved the ball downfield with under a minute left but Dart was intercepted in the end zone by Tyler Owens with 39 seconds left and coach Joey McGuire and the Red Raiders began to celebrate.
Shough was named the Player of the Game. He completed 24-of-29 passes for 242 yards, a touchdown and an interception, and also carried the ball 25 times for 111 yards and two touchdowns.
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