After win over Texas, Texas Tech AD says coach Kliff Kingsbury will return in 2018

Texas Tech Head Football coach Kliff Kingsbury on the sidelines against Baylor in the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017, in Arlington, Texas. (Jerry Larson/Waco Tribune Herald, via AP)
Texas Tech Head Football coach Kliff Kingsbury on the sidelines against Baylor in the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017, in Arlington, Texas. (Jerry Larson/Waco Tribune Herald, via AP)

It looks like Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury saved his job on Friday night.

After the Red Raiders’ come-from-behind win over Texas, Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt told reporters that Kingsbury will be back in 2018.

The Red Raiders trailed Texas 23-13 in the fourth quarter, but rallied back to beat the Longhorns 27-23. The win was No. 6 on the year for Texas Tech, meaning a bowl trip is around the corner.

Feeling a need for more mobility, Kingsbury started backup McLane Carter over Nic Shimonek at quarterback. Carter looked good early, but two second quarter interceptions helped the Longhorns take a 20-10 halftime lead.

The Texas lead was 23-13 early in the fourth when Kingsbury, perhaps feeling the game slipping away, went with the senior Shimonek. The move paid off. Shimonek led the Red Raiders to a touchdown on his first drive of the game, cutting UT’s lead to 23-20.

The Red Raiders punted on their next two drives, giving Texas a chance to run the clock out. The Longhorns faced a third-and-2 from the Texas Tech 37 with 2:20 to play. Instead of running the ball, coach Tom Herman allowed freshman Sam Ehlinger to throw. He made a freshman mistake by throwing off his back foot and across his body, resulting in an interception by TTU’s Justus Parker.

(via FOX)
(via FOX)

Parker returned the interception to the 14. Two plays later, Shimonek, after shaking off a missed targeting penalty, found Cameron Batson for a touchdown, giving the Red Raiders the 27-23 lead.

(via FOX)
(via FOX)

Texas regained possession with 1:47 left and moved into TTU territory, only for Ehlinger to throw another interception to seal the win for the Red Raiders.

Texas Tech started the year 4-1 and was briefly ranked, so it looked like Kingsbury had his team on the right track. The Red Raiders have always been known for offense, but there were finally improvements defensively. However, after the 4-1 start, the Red Raiders dropped five of their next six.

The Red Raiders looked lifeless last week in a 28-3 loss to TCU and dropped to 5-6 on the year, so Kingsbury’s status was definitely up in the air. But he got his team to rebound and eke out a win and a bowl berth on Friday against an in-state foe, earning another season as head coach in the process.

That felt good all the way around.

From the coaches:

(via FOX)
(via FOX)

To the players:

Friday night’s win gives Kingsbury a 30-32 record at his alma mater with a 16-30 mark in Big 12 play. Now he’ll have a sixth season to improve that mark, something he knows he needs to do:

– – – – – – –

Sam Cooper is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!