Last year, Lambert kicked a field goal in overtime to beat TCU and earlier this year, Lambert’s golden toe beat Maryland on the final play of the game.

 

Well, today he not only showed he can kick ‘em in pressure situations, he can also kick 'em far and under duress. Lambert’s 55-yard field goal with no time left on the clock enabled West Virginia to escape Lubbock with an important 37-34 victory.

 

It also tied a school record established by Paul Woodside in 1984 against Louisville.

 

Asked if he talked to his kicker during the game, Holgorsen deadpanned, "Who?

 

"I didn't say anything to him. I don't need to say anything. I knew when he missed one in the fourth quarter I knew we were in great shape because I knew he would come back and drill one when we needed it."

 

And West Virginia clearly needed it. The Mountaineers (4-2, 2-1) scored 17 unanswered points over the remaining 7:32 to erase a 14-point deficit and pick up another important road victory.

 

The winning drive began at the WVU 20 with just 52 seconds left and Holgorsen possessing two timeouts. After three Wendell Smallwood runs netted 12 yards, Clint Trickett worked the middle of the field to Jordan Thompson three straight times for a total of 33 yards. Thompson's last catch placed the ball at the Red Raider 46, and after a Smallwood 8-yard run moved the ball to the 38, Holgorsen used his final timeout with seven seconds left.

 

Trickett tried a pass to the sideline to Daikiel Shorts that fell incomplete, forcing West Virginia to go for the game-winner from the 38.

 

"I think everybody was happy, excited that I finally used a few timeouts and got our kicker in position to make a school record 55-yarder, which we knew he could do," said Holgorsen.

 

For most of the game it looked like Texas Tech was going to snap out of the funk it has been in ever since coming back to defeat West Virginia in Morgantown last season.

 

Since then, however, the Red Raiders (2-4, 0-3) have lost eight straight Big 12 games and they showed us why today with 115 yards in penalties, several defensive breakdowns and uneven play on offense.

 

At the outset, Texas Tech scored 14 first quarter points and both touchdowns came on Davis Webb passes. One play after hitting Jakeem Grant for 10 yards to the WVU 34, Webb flipped a touch pass to Devin Lauderdale and he found an open stretch of field down the near sideline for a 34-yard touchdown.

 

Lauderdale was also the recipient of Webb’s second touchdown pass when he got behind two Mountaineer defenders down the far sideline, caught the ball at midfield and ran the distance for a 76-yard score.

 

West Virginia answered with a 12-yard Rushel Shell touchdown run before the Red Raiders got right back into the end zone for their third TD, this one coming on third and six from the WVU 43 when Webb completed a pass to Grant over the middle and he eluded three defenders to cross the goal line.

 

Webb missed what appeared to be another touchdown pass right before the end of the first half when he threw into double coverage and KJ Dillon came down with his pass at the WVU 9. From above, it looked like Webb had a receiver wide open down the middle of the field but he chose to throw down the far sideline instead.

 

This happened right after West Virginia unsuccessfully went for it on fourth and three from the Red Raider 42. Rather than run the ball or attempt a short pass to keep the sticks moving, Trickett gambled by throwing deep to Mario Alford down the far sideline where Justis Nelson was able to break up the pass.

 

"They always in the first half at some point have a barrage of points and then let the game settle in," said Holgorsen.

 

On Texas Tech’s first possession of the second half, the Red Raiders went for it twice on fourth down and the second time they came up short at the WVU 35. West Virginia managed to turn that into points when Lambert booted a 38-yard field goal, his second of the game. Lambert’s first covered 42 yards on the game’s opening possession.

 

Ryan Bustin made it 24-13 with 5:01 left in the third quarter when he converted a 21-yard field goal. The Red Raiders were right back in business on West Virginia’s ensuing possession when the Red Raider defense came up with a big turnover in West Virginia territory. Pete Robertson came from behind to sack Trickett and Demetrious Alston recovered the fumble at the West Virginia 22. However, a celebration penalty on the Texas Tech bench moved the ball back to the 37.

 

The Mountaineer defense forced another Bustin field goal, this one from 25 yards, and just 64 seconds later West Virginia made it a one-score game when Trickett hit Thompson in stride over the middle for a 56-yard touchdown.

 

"Jordan went in and had a huge game," said Holgorsen. "The touchdown was great. He ran the route and made some big catches down the stretch as well."

 

Following Thompson's score, Lambert’s PAT made it 27-20, Red Raiders, with 1:58 left in the third quarter and the kicker had a chance to reduce Texas Tech’s lead to four at the beginning of the fourth period but his 47-yard field goal attempt sailed just wide of the right post.

 

The game’s next three touchdowns happened in less than two-and-a-half minute's time. On third and 10 from its own 31, Justin Stockton took a simple handoff and turned it into a 69 yard touchdown.

 

Then, West Virginia’s two scores to tie the game came in rapid-fire succession.

 

The first one covered 75 yards, culminating with a Trickett-to-Kevin White, 26-yard pass hookup in the corner of the end zone. The second score came after the defense forced a punt and the offense took over at its own 22. A 21-yard Trickett pass to Mario Alford got the Mountaineers out of a hole, a pass interference penalty called on Nigel Bethel moved the ball to the 35, and a 23-yard pass to Daikiel Shorts got the ball close enough for Shell to score his second touchdown from the 1 to tie the game. It took a review of instant replay to confirm Shell got in.

 

The Mountaineers had double 100-yard rushers for the first time since Pat White and Noel Devine did it against Louisville in 2008, Smallwood going for a career-high 123 and Shell adding 110, his second consecutive 100-yard game.

 

White extended his streak of 100-yard receiving performances to six with his 13-catch, 123-yard effort, Thompson caught six passes for 109 yards and Trickett ended the day completing 28-of-44 passes for 301 yards and two touchdowns. It is the first known time West Virginia has had a combination of two 100-yard rushers, two 100-yard receivers and a 300-yard passer in the same game.

 

West Virginia’s 550 yards of total offense marked its fifth consecutive game doing so, besting the 1993 team that had four straight 500-yard offensive games.

 

The Mountaineers return home to face Baylor next Saturday in a noon game that will be televised nationally on FOX Sports 1.