Struttin' home from Houston: Underdog Tech wallops Ole Miss in Texas Bowl

HOUSTON — Tyler Shough had been planning to buy a cowboy hat anyway. Now he doesn't have to, because he went out and won one.

Texas Tech put a whipping on favored Mississippi on Wednesday night at the Texas Bowl, and the Red Raiders' quarterback led the charge. He ran for 111 yards, a career high, and two touchdowns, both on fourth-and-goal. He threw for 242 yards and another touchdown in a 42-25 victory that showcased a galaxy of Red Raiders stars.

The people in the press box voted Shough the game's most valuable player. And it gets better, because standing on the podium on one end of NRG Stadium, Shough just came out with it: He's sticking around for the 2023 season, one of at least 14 seniors on this year's team exercising the option to use the Covid-bonus year.

A few minutes later in an interview room, the game MVP trophy in front of him, having swapped his black helmet for the black hat, Shough explained why.

"Based on where I feel like I can go in the draft next year and also because I love this team so much and a lot of guys coming back, including coach McGuire, coach Kittley," he said. "I have such a great relationship with them and all the guys on staff where it's just like, why would I want to leave? I feel like we're building that momentum and I really want to be a part of something special, especially when this a great team and a close-knit unit."

Tech finished 8-5 and on a four-game win streak with a bowl victory, the first Red Raiders football team that can make that claim since the 1995 Copper Bowl champions. How long ago was that? Byron Hanspard, in his sophomore season, rushed for 260 yards in that game, and now Byron Hanspard Jr. is a fifth-year senior playing for Baylor.

The Red Raiders didn't even get to their NRG Stadium locker room before it was victory cigars all around.

Shough brought home the hardware, but he had a long list of teammates who contributed in a major way. Safety Dadrion Taylor-Demerson intercepted a pass, foiled a fake punt and recovered a fumble, all in a first half that ended with Tech up 26-7.

The Red Raiders intercepted Rebels QB Jaxson Dart three times. Safeties Marquis Waters and Tyler Owens had the others, the one by Waters setting up a touchdown. Owens' pick came in the end zone at the end of the game.

By then, it had been nearly four hours of fun for the scarlet-and-black people who managed to make it to Houston after a week of frigid weather and travel nightmares.

Running back SaRodorick Thompson, in his final college game, scored his 40th career touchdown, one that made it 32-13 in the fourth quarter. Kicker Trey Wolff, playing his last college game in his hometown, made three field goals and ended the season 21 for 25.

Wolff, 20 of 22 in 2019, is the only kicker in Tech history with two seasons of at least 20. And, given that he made one field goal in 2020 and lost the job, not to get it back until this year, he'd be a prime candidate for any sort of comeback player of the year award.

Young wideouts Jerand Bradley and Loic Fouonji tormented Ole Miss coverage, Bradley with eight catches for 88 yards, Fouonji with seven for 100. And when the Rebels closed within 35-25 on a spectacular one-handed touchdown catch by Malik Heath with 3:10 left, Fouonji returned the onside kickoff for a touchdown.

Defensive linemen Myles Cole and Jaylon Hutchings each stoned Ole Miss running back prodigy Quinshon Judkins on fourth-and-1 plays. Throughout December, Texas Bowl question number one was whether the Red Raiders could control an explosive Rebels offense and Judkins in particular. The SEC rushing leader finished with 91 yards on 23 carries, misleading given that most of it came with the score out of reach.

More reflective of the game: When Tech led 35-13 with 10 minutes left, Judkins had 40 yards on 17 carries.

"I thought our defense played really well stopping the run," Tech coach Joey McGuire said. "I mean, they're as good as anybody we've faced, third in the nation running the football. That kid's really special, and for us to be able to ...

"We kept talking about getting the ball (carrier) down, making them drive the field. We felt like we could capitalize on a mistake or us knocking the ball out."

They did some of that, too. Hutchings caused the fumble that DTD recovered, and young defensive end Isaac Smith recovered one himself. All told, Ole Miss committed five turnovers.

It's hard to fathom a talented SEC team looking as listless as Mississippi State in last year's Liberty Bowl, a game Tech won 34-7. But Ole Miss gave it a shot, and with less of an excuse. The Bulldogs were missing maybe a dozen significant players last December in Memphis. For the Rebels, it was all hands on deck.

Both SEC teams caught a fired-up bunch of Red Raiders eager to finish strong.

So where do those Red Raiders go from here? It sure looks promising, what with McGuire winning eight games in his first shot and making Lubbock a destination for Texas high-school talent.

Of the 14 seniors in 2022 who have said they want to come back for more, nearly all are starters or top backups. Marquis Waters, Kosi Eldridge and Krishon Merriweather showed this season how much so-called super seniors can help a team while helping themselves.

Now Tony Bradford, Jaylon Hutchings, Malik Dunlap, Rayshad Williams and others will try to do the same. Right there with them will be one Tyler Shough, whose determined effort involved more than most realized in the moment.

Turns out, the night before found Shough retching and vomiting, again and again and again. Cornerback Malik Dunlap, receiver Trey Cleveland and strength coach Lance Barilow had the same stomach bug, Shough said.

"I threw up like every hour on the hour and didn't really sleep last night," he said, "so I curled up next to the toilet. I was literally thinking about The Last Dance (documentary) with Michael Jordan. We walk down to the team practice, me and Lance look at each other and he's like, 'Flu game.' That's what I was saying to myself the whole time. I felt like absolute crap."

"Luckily we played at 8 o'clock tonight and didn't play at 11 this morning," McGuire said. "He wouldn't have been able to go."

Team Dr. Michael Phy, athletic trainer Drew Krueger and steady stream of IV-delivered fluids got Shough right — or at least close enough that the Rebels didn't want to see him when he was.

Tuesday might not have been Shough's night. But Wednesday was, and now the Red Raiders believe this is just the beginning of better times for them all.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Struttin' home from Houston: Underdog Tech wallops Ole Miss in Texas Bowl