The Big 12 entered Week 9 with four teams with zero or one loss. As the noon ET television window closes, one member of that conference quartet failed to hold serve.
Going on the road to face an Iowa State team that was coming off an upset of then-No. 6 West Virginia in Ames two weeks ago, Texas Tech coughed up a chance to remain in the thick of the conference race as they fell to the Cyclones by the score of 40-31. In a game that was back and forth throughout, arguably the biggest play came late in the fourth quarter on what was a prototypical true freshman mistake.
Backed up near his own goal line and with the game knotted at 31-all, Tech quarterback Alan Bowman was flagged for intentional grounding. As the Bowman threw the pass from the end zone, it resulted in a safety and a 33-31 lead for the Cyclones with just over four minutes remaining.
When you try to throw the ball away but it’s a safety pic.twitter.com/KMojAV9tAQ
— Bryan Fischer (@BryanDFischer) October 27, 2018
While the game wasn’t over at that point, the combination of a Brock Purdy 48-yard touchdown pass two minutes later and the third Bowman interception shortly thereafter iced the win for the favored Cyclones.
The loss dropped the Red Raiders to 3-2 in the Big 12, tied with the Cyclones for fourth place in conference play. Both of those teams are looking up at Texas (4-0), West Virginia (4-1) and Oklahoma (3-1).
Tech will still have some say in the conference race as they play back-to-back games against Oklahoma and Texas the first two weekends of November.