Bowman, Texas Tech Hold Off Houston Baptist 35-33 In Opener

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — Alan Bowman threw for 430 yards and two touchdowns and Texas Tech stopped FCS team Houston Baptist on a 2-point conversion attempt late in the fourth quarter, hanging on for a 35-33 victory Saturday night.

SaRodorick Thompson ran for two scores in the opener of the pandemic-shortened season for the Red Raiders in front of a socially distanced crowd of 11,157, about 18% of the capacity of 60,454 at AT&T Jones Stadium.

Bailey Zappe threw for 567 yards and four touchdowns in the first game for Houston Baptist (0-2) against a Power 5 opponent a week after finishing with 480 yards passing and three scores in a 57-31 loss to North Texas.

Zappe's final TD pass to Jerreth Sterns pulled the Huskies within two with 3:23 remaining, but his pass to Ben Ratzlaff along the sideline on the 2-point play was wide and high. The Red Raiders then ran out the clock.

"We had the right play call," Zappe said. "It's just on us players to execute. If I put a better ball on Ben on that 2-point conversion, we get it. It's not on anybody but me."

Josh Sterns had 209 yards receiving and two touchdowns, including a 75-yarder to get Houston Baptist within eight early in the fourth quarter. Jerreth Sterns had 12 catches for 130 yards, and Ratzlaff had 105 yards.

The Huskies set up their chance to tie by stopping Bowman on a quarterback sneak on fourth-and-1 from the Houston Baptist 4-yard line. Coach Matt Wells decided against a short field goal that would have put Texas Tech up 11.

"If you don't get it, they've got to go (96) yards," Wells said. "They obviously did. I get that. When you don't get it, you're going to get second-guessed."

Bowman spread the ball around, with five receivers getting at least four catches and 46 yards. KeSean Carter, who led Texas Tech with 86 yards receiving, and Erik Ezukanma had receiving TDs.

Thompson had 118 yards on 22 carries as the teams combined for 1,224 total yards (624 for Texas Tech to 600 for Houston Baptist).

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