Tech's effort much improved from last week as defense leads way to win

For the Texas Tech defense, four words summed up the day: That's more like it.

Coming off an embarrassing no-show the week before against Texas A&M, the Tech defense dominated Kansas, and the Red Raiders posted a 42-21 victory Saturday at Jones AT&T Stadium in a game they trailed 21-14 after three quarters.

Tech (6-3, 3-2 in the Big 12) came up with six sacks and five turnovers, including four inside the Kansas 35-yard line that the Red Raiders turned into touchdowns.

"I think we most definitely respect these guys,' middle linebacker Brian Duncan said. "Last week, I don't think we came out fully respecting (A&M). The fire in our hearts wasn't there last week, but this week we fixed that in practice. We did different things to kind of get that back.'

Kansas (5-3, 1-3) came in with a two-game losing streak, but hit rock bottom against Tech. The Jayhawks managed only 258 yards - they were averaging 475, fifth-best in the nation.

"We went back to basics this week, worked on tackling, worked on pad level,' cornerback LaRon Moore said. "We just went out there and played with a passion. I believe that's what we lacked last week. We kind of wanted to win the game, but we didn't want to play hard. I think we got that back.'

With Tech struggling on offense and making another quarterback change - from Seth Doege to Taylor Potts - it looked as if Kansas might get out of town with a win. With defensive tackle Colby Whitlock holding a handful of his jersey, Todd Reesing fired a 6-yard touchdown pass to Dezmon Briscoe, giving the Jayhawks a 21-14 lead as the third quarter ended.

The fourth quarter was all Tech.

Baron Batch highlighted Tech's 28-point outburst with three touchdowns, but he had plenty of help. His 1-yard touchdown with 11:06 left tied the score at 21, and then Moore made two game-changing plays in four minutes. Three plays after the Batch TD, with Moore hanging on to him, Kansas receiver Kerry Meier lost a fumble and safety Franklin Mitchem recovered at the KU 23-yard line.

That led to a three-play scoring drive, and then Moore took care of the scoring himself the next time the ball came his way. Down a touchdown with just over 7 minutes left, Kansas decided to go for it on fourth-and-1 from its own 31.

But Reesing dropped the snap, and running back Toben Opurum batted the ball out to the left. A player from each team dove for the recovery before the ball finally bounced into Moore's hands. He had an easy path to a 31-yard touchdown that gave Tech a 35-21 lead.

That came at the 7:10 mark, and the Raiders got their last touchdown with 2:05 to go after Gerry Acevedo recovered a muffed punt at the Kansas 19.

"I was proud of the way our defense stepped it up,' Tech coach Mike Leach said, "because our defense had played really well for two weeks, then they played as bad as you can play last week. Then they played good this week.'

Meier had a 10-game streak of at least four recep

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