Texas Tech LB Austin Romaine gets back-to-back pick 6s in blowout win vs. Sam Houston
Two plays, two pick-sixes for the senior transfer linebacker, who had only tallied one interception in his previous three college football seasons.
No. 11 Texas Tech ran out to a 21-0 lead in an eventual 49-13 win over Sam Houston early in the second quarter. Amazingly, two of those touchdowns came from the defense. And one player scored those TDs, each of them on a pick 6.
On Sam Houston's fourth possession of the game, Red Raiders linebacker Austin Romaine intercepted quarterback Brett Holloway on second-and-10 from the Bearkats ' 19-yard line. The senior LB ran it in 15 yards for the score.
Romaine, a senior transfer from Kansas State, only had one interception in his previous three seasons of college football, getting that last year. The Hillsboro, Missouri, native came into Saturday's game with 119 total tackles, 3.5 sacks, 18.5 tackles for loss and 3 forced fumbles.
Landyn Locke took over at QB on Sam Houston's next possession. But on his very first play, he was picked off by Romaine, who ran the interception back 31 yards for his second pick 6 in two plays.
Sam Houston managed to keep the ball away from Romaine on its next two possessions. The Bearkats punted after six plays on their next series. Then Locke hit passes of 32 yards to Kyan Berry-Johnson and a 52-yarder to Tim Burns Jr. for the score. The Bearkats scored despite 25 yards in penalties during the drive.
Texas Tech QB Will Hammond threw interceptions on the team's next two possessions. The second one came after Sam Houston punter Cal Joseph pinned the Red Raiders at their own 1-yard line. Two plays later, Locke hit Chris Reed for a 9-yard score and cut Texas Tech's lead to 21-14 before halftime.
However, the second half belonged to the Red Raiders, who put four more touchdowns on the board. Hammond got two of them with a 21-yard pass and 23-yard run. The other scores came on a 13-yard rush by Cameron Dickey and a 27-yard pass from backup QB Thomas Castellanos.
Hammond finished with 224 yards on 17-of-29 passing with 1 TD and 3 interceptions. Dickey rushed for 91 yards and 2 scores on 12 carries. And along with his two pick-sixes, Romaine led all defensive players with 8 tackles.
With the win, Texas Tech improved to 4-0, including a win over No. 22 Houston . Up next for the Red Raiders is a visit to Colorado (2-2) before a bye week.
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