LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – Lee Corso brought the house down hours before kickoff in 2008 when he put on Raider Red’s headgear for his pick between #1 Texas vs. #7 Texas Tech.
That moment was just a taste of the excitement in Lubbock the first time ESPN College GameDay traveled to Lubbock 17 years ago.
Chris Fowler, Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit and Desmond Howard were at the desk to analyze #1 Texas vs. #7 Texas Tech.
The game featured a matchup of top college quarterbacks, as Colt McCoy, who finished #2 in Heisman voting in 2008, faced off against Graham Harrell, who finished fourth in voting.
Play-by-play announcer Brent Musburger knew the scoreboard had the potential to light up for this game.
“Texas has had a heck of a stretch right now and if they’re tired at all, the Red Raiders could be in business come the fourth quarter. It’s going to be high scoring; we’ll go into the 70s with this game.”
Then-Texas Head Coach Mack Brown, however, had a feeling the other side of football would play a big role in the game.
“They’re forcing more turnovers than we are, I think they had 14 interceptions and I believe they’re plus five in turnover ratio on us, so that could be a big part of this game.”
As it turned out, both were correct in their predictions. Texas Tech’s defense forced a safety on the opening offensive possession for Texas and Daniel Charbonnet ran 18 of the longest yards you’ll ever see on his way to the endzone for a pick-six.
In the end though, it was “The Catch” that made all the difference.
Now, 17 years later, ESPN has returned to Lubbock to see two top 10 teams battle it out for a spot in the college football playoff, something that didn’t exist the last time they were here.
The excitement for this weekend is reaching a fever-pitch, and Red Raiders are hoping it concludes with another piece of history.
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