Texas Tech quarterback Taylor Potts was excited about Saturday night, observing that he hadn't played a full game in more than three years. When the season opener ended, Potts felt as if he still hadn't.
In his first college start, the junior from Abilene threw for 405 yards in a 38-13 victory over North Dakota, which lacked the manpower to make the Red Raiders pay for some of his fundamental lapses. Potts threw three interceptions, two deep in Fighting Sioux territory, which he attributed to bad mechanics.
"A couple of them, I thought I could kind of out-throw the coverage and use my arm,'' said Potts, the successor to two-time 5,000-yard passer Graham Harrell. "I threw off my back foot and threw in a style I'm not familiar with and it didn't work out well. The interceptions were drive killers. That's why I say I held the offense back.''
But it wasn't all bad. Potts accounted for four touchdowns, throwing for TDs in the second and fourth quarters and sneaking a yard each for TDs in the first and third periods. He completed 34 of 48, but two interceptions inside the UND 30 kept Tech from being able to roll it up on the Fighting Sioux the way a crowd of almost 48,000 at Jones AT&T Stadium expected.
"He just needs to play like he plays on Tuesdays and Wednesdays,'' Tech coach Mike Leach said, referring to the team's heaviest practice days. "The good stuff he did really good, and he had some other times he tried to be too perfect.''
After building a 21-3 lead midway through the second quarter, Tech hit a lull and UND still was within striking distance in the middle of the fourth period.
"There in the second quarter, we kind of got happy with ourselves,'' Potts said. "We've got to stay excited throughout the whole thing. If we let up against anybody else, it's going to come back to bite us in the butt.''
UND pulled within 28-13 with a touchdown early in the fourth quarter, and got the ball back with 11:08 left on an interception by safety Joel Schwenzfeier, his third of the night. But Tech forced a punt and ended Fighting Sioux hopes of an upset a Matt Williams field goal with 4:49 left and a touchdown pass to inside receiver Adam James with 2:05 to go.
Leach called it an average to above average first game.
"There was more good than bad,'' said Leach, who moved into solo second place on the Tech career coaching victories list and within five of Spike Dykes' record 82. "I'd say it was a good starting point.''
After the game, UND players en masse headed to the bleachers beyond the north end zone to shake hands with their fans who made the long trip down from Grand Forks, N.D.
"I've got nothing but good things to say about those guys,'' said Tech defensive end Daniel Howard, who got credit for a sack and two quarterback pressures. "They came in and played their hearts out.''
North Dakota, which had no illusions of pulling an upset, succeeded at least with shortening the game and keeping it close for a long while. In the first half, a couple of field goals by Brandon Hellevang capped drives that took 6 minutes and 7:13, respectively, and Schwenzfeier killed Tech scoring chances with interceptions at the UND 20- and 26-yard lines.
The Fighting Sioux also foiled the Red Raiders on their first possession of the second half, turning away Tech when a Potts pass fell incomplete on fourth down from the 4-yard line.
Nevertheless, by scoring three touchdowns in its first four series, the Red Raiders made sure they were never in danger of an opening-week shocker. Short scoring runs by Baron Batch and Potts capped the first two series, and Potts shook off the first interception by delivering a 49-yard scoring pass to Detron Lewis at 8:41 before halftime.
Lewis did a lot of the work. The heir apparent to Mike Crabtree as Tech's No. 1 receiver caught Potts' toss over the middle around the 40, spun to the outside and outran the coverage as the Raiders built the lead to 21-3.
"I felt pretty comfortable with a year experience (as a starter) last year,'' Lewis said. "I felt pretty good against these guys.''
Story courtesy of www.lubbockonline.com
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