 "Photo: Sam Grenadier")
It took Baron Batch a full half to get going, but once he did, hitting pay dirt never seemed so easy.
Batch had a career-high four touchdowns to help Texas Tech score 28 unanswered points in the fourth quarter and put away Kansas in a 42-21 victory on Saturday at Jones AT&T Stadium.
The Red Raiders (6-3, 3-2 in Big 12 Conference play), known for their aerial assault, haven’t had a four-touchdown performance out of the backfield since Taurean Henderson did it in 2005.
Batch had seven yards and a touchdown at halftime, but a refocused offensive line and steady defense allowed him to bust through some of the biggest holes he’s seen this year and put the Jayhawks (5-3, 1-3 in Big 12 play) to bed in the process.
“(Batch is) one of the most conscientious guys I’ve ever dealt with,” said Tech coach Mike Leach, who now has 82 career victories, tying Spike Dykes for most in school history. “(Batch is) ambitious, and wants things to go well. But as he settles down and just stays within the parameters of his job, he can be remarkably explosive.”
Batch got started on the second play of the fourth quarter, when he ran a season-long 44 yards down to the Kansas 2-yard line. A few plays later, he punched it in for a 1-yard touchdown that tied the game 21-21.
Kansas receiver Kerry Meier fumbled on the Jayhawks’ next possession and Batch reached the end zone three plays later on a 17-yard run, going completely untouched the entire way.
Tech padded its lead on KU’s next possession when LaRon Moore scored a 32-yard touchdown after scooping up another Jayhawk fumble.
With a two-touchdown lead, Batch added another one just for insurance late in the fourth quarter. It was another untouched sprint across the goal line, this time for 11 yards.
“Those were some of the easiest touchdowns I’ve scored at Tech,” said Batch, “The offensive line did a great job just executing and not hesitating. … It was just our basic stuff really. I say this all the time, this offense can’t be stopped when people execute. In the first half, we weren’t doing that.”
That might be an understatement.
Tech had 127 total yards at halftime and still was tied at 14 with Kansas, who wasn’t doing so well either, amassing only 106 total yards. Both teams punted five times in the first half with Tech committing two fumbles and Kansas one.
Tech quarterback Seth Doege in his first career start, was sacked five times but had a 61-yard touchdown pass to receiver Detron Lewis in the first quarter. However, he was replaced in the second half by Taylor Potts because of his inability to move the ball downfield.
Doege lost a fumble in the first quarter that was recovered by KU’s Maxwell Onyegbule and returned for a 4-yard touchdown.
“He didn’t want to make a mistake,” Leach said of the redshirt freshman Doege. “So I think things moved slowly, and our tempo was slower than it should have been.”
The much-maligned Potts managed the game better, checking down to a run on several occasions, giving Batch more opportunities to take over the game.
Potts finished with 94 yards and an interception on 11-of-19 passing.
KU’s quarterback Todd Reesing, who got sacked six times, was benched before the game ended. He exited with 181 yards and a touchdown on 20-of-35 passing.
Tech’s defense pestered Reesing relentlessly, knocking him to the ground every chance it had.
It wasn’t a strong outing by Kansas’ offensive line, which allowed Tech defensive end Brandon Sharpe to rack up 2.5 sacks — giving him 10.5 this season — linebacker Marlon Williams to get 1.5 and tackle Colby Whitlock to get two of his own.
A hit from defensive end Daniel Howard in the second quarter jarred the ball loose from Reesing and was picked up by Tech defensive tackle Richard Jones, who stumbled to the 6-yard line. That’s when Batch scored the first of his four touchdowns on a 2-yard punisher that gave Tech a 14-7 lead.
“I think the biggest issue I have right now is the offensive line,” said Kansas coach Mark Mangino, whose Jayhawks have now dropped three straight. “I think we’ve regressed the last two or three weeks in that area.”
Tech’s solid defensive performance comes one week after the Red Raiders allowed 321 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns in a 52-30 loss at home to Texas A&M.
During the week, he wouldn’t say much about tying Dykes’ win record, but being one win away from owning it seemed to put it in perspective for Leach, who fought back tears as he discussed it.
“It’s funny,” said Leach, who needed just under 10 years to reach 82 wins, which took Dykes 14 years to attain. “I think the young (guys) don’t do maybe as good a job of thanking the older guys as they really ought to. When I was coming up in coaching, Spike’s a guy that I always really admired. I think that I learned a lot from Spike like all of us do.
“Well I just really want to thank him. But, you know, there’s no new guys without the old guys. The old guys are what made it happen.”
