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Of all the records that Texas Tech football holds, such as Graham Harrell’s 512 completions in one season, to all of the single-season marks held by Michael Crabtree for receiving and Wes Welker for punt returns and even now-Head Coach Kliff Kingsbury’s 812 plays in his senior season, one seems to be swept under the rug and forgotten by an entire nation. This is the story of that record.
One day in 1939 will live in glory and infamy for two unique colleges. A game that involved two coaches that were so scared they would turn the ball over that they resorted to punting. Yes, 77 punts (not a typo) were recorded on a rainy November day in Shreveport, Louisiana as the Texas Technological College Red Raiders led by coach Pete Cawthon took the field to play the Centenary College Gentlemen. At this point in Texas Tech football history, the team was just two years removed from their first conference championship in 1937 where they boasted a 3-0 conference record to win the Borden Intercollegiate Athletic Association Conference Title.
On that day in 1939, these two teams met to an almost empty stadium. Centenary received the opening kickoff and on their first offensive play of the game, they trotted out punter Weenie Bynum and gave the ball right back to Texas Tech. Although the Red Raiders tried to gain some momentum, they never could as they would also bring in punter Charlie Calhoun over 30 times in this game to punt! Calhoun’s 1,318 punting yards in this game is still and will most likely forever be an NCAA record. Texas Tech punt returner Milton Hill also set an NCAA record for 20 fielded punts in that game.
When all was said and done, the final score was 0-0. Centenary College managed to gain 31 yards of offense while the Red Raiders netted a loss of one yard on the day. This game was remembered by few until SB Nation did some digging and did a short feature on it. Below is that video, I recommend that you all watch it.
What are your thoughts on this bizarre record held by the Texas Tech Red Raiders? Let us know in the comment section down below!