Props to freshmen Nathan Enriquez for having two picks on the day
Posted on 10/3 3:47 PM | IP: Logged
Texas Tech beats New Mexico 48-28 By BETSY BLANEY, Associated Press Writer
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) -- Backup quarterback Steven Sheffield threw for 238 yards and three touchdowns to help lead Texas Tech to a 48-28 win over New Mexico on Saturday.
Taylor Potts, the nation’s leading passer, left the game before halftime after two hard sacks appeared to affect his balance. Officials from Texas Tech (3-2) declined to comment on his injury.
Sheffield threw scoring passes of 25, 20 and 62 yards. He was 16 of 23 with one interception. Alex Torres, Edward Britton and Harrison Jeffers caught the touchdowns.
Potts was intercepted twice, both by cornerback Nathan Enriquez.
The Lobos (0-5) got their only first-half score off Potts’ second interception. Donovan Porterie threw a 7-yard TD pass to Josh Fussell in the second quarter.
Porterie completed 30 of 56 passes for 316 yards and two touchdowns.
The loss for New Mexico was its ninth straight dating to last season.
The game capped a week of off-the-field distractions for both teams.
Red Raiders coach Mike Leach made headlines when he indefinitely suspended Brandon Carter, a team captain and preseason All-America pick, for violating team rules following Texas Tech’s 29-28 loss to No. 12 Houston. Carter was in the stands for much of the game. He did not practice with the team this week.
Leach also banned his players from using Twitter after learning Marlon Williams had tweeted about Leach being late to a team meeting.
For the Lobos, coach Mike Locksley is under investigation by the university following a Sept. 20 fight involving an assistant. Receivers coach J.B. Gerald told police Locksley struck him during a staff meeting. Gerald hasn’t been with the team since the incident.
At the outset, Texas Tech showed no signs of being distracted.
On its first possession, Potts threw a 79-yard pass to Tremain Swindall, who outran Lobos defenders to the 1 on the Red Raiders’ longest play from scrimmage this season. Jeffers took the ball in on the next play to put the Texas Tech up 7-0.
Potts, who was without a touchdown pass, was not on the sideline after halftime. He got sacked hard twice late in the second quarter.
Tech trainers checked Potts’ balance -- he stood on one foot and then the other -- and rubbed the back of his neck.
Lobos linebacker Carmen Messina sacked Potts on a first-down play and Johnathan Rainey threw him to the ground on third-and-9 after Potts scrambled toward the far sideline late in the second quarter.
The nation’s leading passer got up slowly after the second sack, then stood still momentarily as he bent over, resting his hands on his knees. His head was down as he made his way to Texas Tech’s sideline.
Sheffield replaced Potts and led the Red Raiders on an 86-yard drive to a touchdown, finding Torres on a 25-yard score with 1 second remaining in the half for a 14-7 lead.
This post was edited on 10/3 6:24 PM by LadyLobosFan
Posted on 10/3 6:23 PM | IP: Logged
Tech loses quarterback in 48-28 win over New Mexico. By Don Williams
In 10 years as Texas Tech head coach, Mike Leach has never had a quarterback miss a start because of injury. If it happens next week, at least he can turn to Steven Sheffield with a degree of confidence.
Sheffield, entering after Taylor Potts got knocked out of the game, led Tech to touchdowns on his first four possessions. The Red Raiders had been in a swoon nearly the entire first half, but Sheffield gave them an immediate energy boost and they went on to beat New Mexico 48-28 on a cool, gray Saturday at Jones AT&T Stadium.
Sheffield, a former walk-on who earned a scholarship this year after earning the No. 2 quarterback job, got the most extensive playing time of his career. He completed 16 of 23 passes for 238 yards and three touchdowns.
Tech (3-2, 0-1 in the Big 12 Conference) returns to conference play next Saturday, hosting Kansas State in a 6 p.m. regionally televised game. It looks as if Sheffield will have a chance to make his first career start then, as woozy as Potts appeared to be.
New Mexico (0-5) again failed to get its first victory for embattled new coach Mike Locksley. The Lobos scored three fourth-quarter touchdowns, but were never closer than 14 points down the stretch.
Tech freshman running back Harrison Jeffers finished with four touchdowns, three on the ground and one receiving.
Late in what had been a sluggish first half for the Red Raiders, Potts got sacked twice in a three-play sequence. The second did the most damage. Defensive end Johnathan Rainey leveled Potts along the New Mexico sideline, and the quarterback landed hard on his back and the back of his head.
That happened on third down, forcing a Tech punt, and the Tech medical staff spent the next defensive series checking Potts on the sideline. They examined his neck and tested his balance, but he never returned.
Tech does not disclose the nature or severity of injuries.
As soon as the Raiders got the ball back, the game turned into the Sheffield show -- or the “Sticks’’ show, to use the name his teammates know the bony quarterback by. On his first three snaps, he threw passes of 17 yards to Edward Britton, 17 to Baron Batch and 32 to Tramain Swindall.
After an incompletion, he sizzled a pass on a line to flanker Alex Torres, and the 25-yard touchdown gave Tech a 14-7 lead as time ran out in the half.
On Tech’s first three series of the second half, Batch scored on a 5-yard run up the middle and Sheffield tossed scoring passes to Detron Lewis and Harrison Jeffers, both of which involved nifty running on the receivers’ part. On the TD to Lewis, Sheffield was flushed to the left, Lewis crossed the field to meet him on the other side.
Once Lewis secured the catch, he planted and cut inside two tacklers, then ran and dove into the end zone. With the extra point, it was 28-7.
After a punt, Sheffield flipped a pass in the left flat to Jeffers, who dashed between nice blocks by Torres and split end Lyle Leong and ran 62 yards down the boundary for another score and a 35-7 lead.
After his initial burst that broke open a close game, Sheffield lost a fumble and threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown.
Potts had 215 yards on 13-for-23 passing. On the first play of the game, he and Swindall hooked up for a 79-yard pass and run down to the 1. Jeffers ran it in on the next play, and it looked as if the Raiders were on their way to covering a five-touchdown spread.
But on Tech’s next three possessions, Potts sandwiched two interceptions around a four-play series that ended in a punt. New Mexico tied it at 7 on Donovan Porterie’s 7-yard pass to Josh Fussell at 12:05 before halftime.
Tech continued to struggle until Sheffield’s arrival.
Potts injury was just one of many for Tech. Starting center Shawn Byrnes and starting safety Cody Davis left the game for good in the second quarter. They were even taken out of the stadium on the same John Deere cart ride. Davis suffered an apparent shin injury when he came up on a ball carrier and his shin hit a teammate on the ground. Byrnes limped off with an apparent ankle injury.
Cornerback Nathan Stone got hurt making a tackle on a third-quarter kickoff. Stone flipped the return man, whose leg hit Stone’s helmet. Stone lay on the turf being attended to for several minutes before he was able to walk off the field.
He later was stabilized on a back board and carted out for further examination.
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