Texas finally gets revenge for Michael Crabtree game-winner

Michael Crabtree once beat Texas on a ridiculous, late-game catch. 10 years later, Lil’Jordan Humphrey returns the favor, this time to beat Texas Tech.

10 years ago, the No. 7 Texas Tech Red Raiders stunned the No. 1 Texas Longhorns in Lubbock. Down one point with seconds left on the clock, Red Raiders receiver Michael Crabtree caught a contested pass along the sideline. Instead of getting out of bounds to force one final play, Crabtree fought up the sidelines to pay dirt to shock Texas.

10 years later, Texas finally got revenge. In what was arguably the greatest play in Texas Tech history, it was only fitting that the Longhorns would stun the Red Raiders in Lubbock with a carbon copy of that same play.

Inside of a minute left with the game tied at 34 all, Longhorns quarterback Sam Ehlinger would find his favorite target in wide receiver Lil’Jordan Humphrey near the sidelines. His catch over the Texas Tech defensive back seemed eerily similar to the one Crabtree became a college football legend receiving.

Naturally, college football Twitter lost its mind with the catch. It pointed out how much these two grabs were in common, the rivalry between these two Texas state schools and just the sheer awesomeness of what Humphrey did by Crabtree-ing Texas Tech in its own stadium.

Texas would win by the score of 41-34, evading another loss on its résumé. The Longhorns improve to 7-4 on the year under head coach Tom Herman, while the Red Raiders fall to 5-5 on the year for head coach Kliff Kingsbury.

For a minute there, it looked like Texas was going to be finally back and contend for the College Football Playoff. Though the Longhorns lost on Labor Day Weekend to the Maryland Terrapins on a neutral-site, there have been glimpses this season that things are working for Herman in Austin with his football team.

Ehlinger looks to be the best quarterback that Texas has had since Colt McCoy, who was on the sidelines for the infamous Crabtree catch in 2008. Though the Longhorns would play for a national title in 2009 with McCoy as their signal caller, that 2008 team might have been the better of the two.

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We’ve seen Texas Tech put up a ton of points this fall for Kingsbury. However, defensive issues continue to rear their ugly head in Lubbock. Though breaking up that pass would have only forced overtime, it’s tough for Texas Tech to get beat at its Crabtree game. For Texas, this is what it feels like to win in this fashion down in Lubbock. It’s pretty amazing.