Replay review confirms goal-line stop as Texas Tech tops Houston

LUBBOCK, Texas -- J'Koby Williams and Cameron Dickey ran for second-half touchdowns as defending Big 12 champion Texas Tech held on for a 28-26 victory Friday night when Houston quarterback Conner Weigman came up just short of a 2-point conversion in the final minute.

Weigman's third touchdown pass, a 10-yarder to Patrick Overmyer with 49 seconds left, gave the No. 22 Cougars (2-1, 0-1) a chance to tie in the conference opener for both teams. On the try for two, Weigman took off to the left and lunged forward with the ball extended, though his knee came down before the ball broke the plane of the end zone.

"There's no moral victories," Houston coach Willie Fritz said. "We came here to win. And we didn't win."

The viewing audience was able to watch and listen to the Big 12 replay officials at the conference headquarters reviewing that play before ruling that Weigman was short. That was one of several replays on which viewers got an inside look.

Will Hammond was 17-of-27 passing for 257 yards and a touchdown for the No. 13 Red Raiders (3-0, 1-0), who were down 10-0 and had only one offensive snap 9½ minutes into their first Friday home game since 1941.

"It just shows the resilience of this team and the belief they have in each other. There was never a time that those guys got down. They just kept fighting," Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire said. "I just continue to believe that as the season goes, we'll keep getting better and better again."

The Red Raiders won their 10th consecutive home game, though they gave up more than 17 points for the first time in that stretch. It is their longest home winning streak since 12 in a row from 2007 to 2009.

Weigman finished 27-of-38 for 282 yards.

After only two carries for 5 yards before halftime, Williams had consecutive runs of 19, 5 and 29 yards -- the last a burst through the left side to go pretty much untouched to the end zone to make it 21-17 only 2½ minutes into the second half. Dickey had a 1-yard scoring run with 7:36 left.

Houston led 17-14 just before halftime after Koby Young made an over-the-shoulder catch and pinned the ball against his shoulder pads while falling over the pylon for a 46-yard touchdown.

Hammond had a 28-yard pass to Kenny Johnson to convert third-and-12 before they also hooked up for a 35-yard touchdown a minute into the second quarter. Johnson finished with four catches for 113 yards.

After a field goal on the game's opening drive, the Cougars immediately got the ball back on Will James' nifty interception along the sideline when Tommy Castellanos, who started instead of Hammond, was trying to throw away the ball while under pressure.

That led to Amare Thomas' 11-yard touchdown reception when he twisted and extended the ball lunging forward toward the end zone while being knocked down for a 10-0 lead. He was initially marked short, but it became a score after a replay review.

Castellanos, the former Florida State and Boston College quarterback, didn't join the Red Raiders until a week before the season opener. After the interception, he didn't take another snap until his 3-yard touchdown run with 3:39 left in the first half.

"Will Hammond is our starting quarterback. We have packages for Tommy, and those packages will continue to grow," McGuire said. "We had two plays we're going to run right there. If we don't get pressure, then I think we have a huge play starting right off the bat. ... The plan was two plays and Will come into the game."

Hammond had been expected to be the starter this year before an ACL injury last October. There was also the offseason saga surrounding departed transfer quarterback Brendan Sorsby, who would have started but was declared ineligible after an NCAA gambling investigation. Hammond, meanwhile, had no setbacks in his recovery and was ready for the start of this season.