100 - Tech's magic number?

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Can Tech hit the century mark?
After an 80-point week, can 100 be next for Tech?

By Randy Riggs
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Some call it running up the score. But in reality, all Texas Tech is doing is running its offense.

When Mike Leach's spread formation is clicking, like last Saturday and surely again this Saturday, you can get scores like 80-21 vs. Sam Houston State and heaven-knows-what against Indiana State this week.

And for the record, the Red Raiders don't short out scoreboard fuses only against Division I-AA teams. Just ask California. Or Nebraska. Or Texas Christian. The Cornhuskers and Horned Frogs each allowed 70 points to the red-and-black steamroller last year. Cal, the nation's fourth-ranked team, surrendered "only" 45 points in the Holiday Bowl.

What might transpire this weekend against the Sycamores has mind-boggling potential. Indiana State (0-3), after all, gave up 42 points in a home loss to St. Francis, an NAIA school from Fort Wayne, Ind.

Tech's first-year starting quarterback, Cody Hodges, has even dared to mention the "H" word -- hundred. As in 100 points in a game.

The last Division I-A team to do that was Houston in a 100-6 nail-biter over Tulsa in 1968.

"If we play well and we capitalize on every drive, I think we could score a hundred points," Hodges told the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. "I think if we're going to do it, we need to do it next week (vs. Indiana State). But we're not worried about points. As long as we're moving the ball and getting first downs, the points are going to come."

Hodges, a fifth-year senior, later sought to clarify his comments. He said he meant no disrespect toward the Sycamores and that the Red Raiders' goal is to score a touchdown on each possession.

Name an offense that doesn't have that as its goal. The thing is, Tech seems more capable of batting .1000 than just about any other team out there because when the Raiders get rolling, it's a fearsome thing to behold. It's also fun to behold, as long as you're not on the receiving end.

Leach has insisted forever that it's not his goal to run up scores. Rather, it's his goal to get his spread-the-wealth offense running as smoothly as possible, even with the backups on the field. Tech throws the ball, so the backups are going to be playing catch, too. That's what they do.

And if the score approaches triple digits?

"I don't think about it," Leach said. "If you happen to put some points on somebody, it affects who you play out there, but it doesn't affect how you play or how hard you play."

The eternal question, though, is when is enough enough? That, suggested third-year Baylor Coach Guy Morriss -- whose Bears have allowed an average of 57.2 points to the Raiders over the last four seasons -- shouldn't be Leach's concern.

"I've always thought it's not the opponent's problem, it's our problem to get them stopped," said Morriss. "I don't have a problem with people scoring points, because that's what you ask people to do."

And the Raiders certainly can do it, even against good defenses. The season is young and the opponents will improve, but Tech currently leads the nation in scoring, passing offense and total offense.

That's nothing new, either. It doesn't matter if it's Hodges, Sonny Cumbie, B.J. Symons or Kliff Kingsbury, Leach's quarterbacks are going to throw the ball. And they have a wealth of wide receivers, this year headed by Robert Johnson and Jarrett Hicks, who are going to catch it.

That's what they do, folks. And as Morriss noted, if you can't stop it, that's your problem.

rriggs@statesman.com