Texas Tech, after falling behind 38–7 with 7:47 remaining in the third quarter, rallied to score 31 unanswered points to send the game to overtime.

[3] The Red Raiders' 31-point comeback is tied with that of TCU against Oregon in the January 2016 Alamo Bowl for the largest in Division I FBS postseason history.

[4] A decision by Red Raiders coach Mike Leach on their opening possession set the initial tone for the game.

Minnesota then went on its longest scoring drive of the season, ending with a 1-yard touchdown run by Justin Valentine on the first play of the second quarter.

Minnesota took the opening kickoff of the second half and kept the ball for 16 plays and 7:13, ending with a 32-yard field goal by Joel Monroe.

The Raiders scored on the first play of the fourth quarter on an 8-yard touchdown pass from Harrell to Robert Johnson to make it 38-21 with 14:56 left on the clock.

[5] From there, Harrell ran Tech's hurry-up offense to perfection, completing five of seven passes, with the receivers successful in going out of bounds to stop the clock four times.

[5] The eighth play of the final drive was Alex Trlica's 52-yard field goal as time expired that sent the game to overtime.

Tech responded on its possession with a five-play sequence that ended in Woods' winning touchdown run, his third of the night, from three yards out.

Simmons was filling in for the injured Matt Spaeth, the winner of the John Mackey Award as the nation's leading tight end.