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Spike Dykes' record of utter mediocrity continued into the 1993 season as the Red Raiders finished with a 6-6 record capped by a 41-10 wipeout loss to Oklahoma in the Sun Bowl. But hey, Texas Tech did beat Texas in Austin, and that is all that really mattered. Never mind that that Longhorn team went 5-5-1. Such were the low standards and expectations surrounding Texas Tech football at that time that the lousiness of Texas could safely be ignored.
Ultimately, Texas Tech's season was defined by a five-game losing streak early, and a five-game winning streak late.
The season began with a meaningless win over Pacific. And then things turned ugly quick. The Red Raiders went on the road to face No. 9 Nebraska. They were huge underdogs, of course, but played a whale of a first half and actually led 21-20 midway through the third quarter on a touchdown pass from Robert Hall to Bruce Hill. The Husker faithful were getting very nervous--I know because I was there. But Nebraska had much more in the tank than Texas Tech and outscored the Red Raiders 27-6 down the stretch to win going away. Still, this showing against a team that would ultimately play for the national title, was encouraging. Alas, it was fool's gold
Next game out was at Georgia. The Bulldogs jumped out to a 28-0 lead in the middle of the second quarter and coasted home with a 52-37 victory. Texas Tech actually went on a 28-0 run in the second half to close to within eight points, but upon being threatened, Georgia scored the clinching touchdown late. Some folk may have taken solace in Texas Tech's resiliency in such a hostile environment. But the reality was that this was not a good Bulldog club. They finished 5-6 and out of the bowl picture.
Texas Tech's SWC slate began on the road in Waco and the Red Raiders lost to Baylor, 28-26. Matters grew worse upon returning to Lubbock next week and losing to Texas A&M, 31-6. Then came a game that very easily could have knocked the heart out of the Red Raiders. North Carolina State came to town and Texas Tech led an intense, seesaw affair 34-30 with 1:28 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Red Raiders had the ball near midfield and needed merely to run out the clock to secure a desperately needed win. Bam Morris took the handoff from Robert Hall and fumbled. The Wolfpack recovered. They quickly drove deep into Texas Tech territory and on the game's very last play completed an 11-yard touchdown pass for a 36-34 victory. Few losses in Texas Tech's history were more eviscerating than that one.
With that sort of punctuation to a five-game losing streak, the Red Raiders could very well have gone into the tank. But if there's any redeeming quality to the 1993 team it is that they didn't quit. Instead they rallied to a five-game winning streak that put them in line for the Sun Bowl invitation. Now the list of Texas Tech's victims wasn't impressive, but at this time Texas Tech fans couldn't afford to turn up their noses at any wins.
Texas Tech's triumphs came over Rice, Texas, TCU, SMU and Houston. The game against the Cougars, incidentally, was played at a neutral site, the Alamodome in San Antonio. This may have been the first instance of the Texas Tech football team playing a conference game on neutral ground, a practice which since then has become fairly common in football and basketball.
As noted above, the Red Raiders concluded their season by getting hammered by the No. 19 Sooners, 41-10. In their three games against ranked opponents, Texas Tech lost by an average of 26 points. This was yet another humdrum season, and at this point in the Dykes regime was becoming old hat.