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Harrell leads offensive outburst as Texas Tech rolls

Sep 14, 2008 - 4:47 AM LUBBOCK, Texas (Ticker) -- The combination of Graham Harrell and Michael Crabtree was far too much for Southern Methodist to handle.

Harrell tossed three of his five touchdown passes to Crabtree as 12th-ranked Texas Tech extended its winning streak over SMU to 13 games Saturday with a 43-7 triumph.

Unbeaten against the Mustangs since 1986, the Red Raiders had little trouble continuing the trend in this one. Less than a minute after Baron Batch gave Texas Tech (3-0) a 10-0 lead with a 43-yard touchdown run 8:24 into the game, Harrell began his aerial attack with a 23-yard scoring pass to Crabtree.

The pair hooked up for a 47-yard TD at 6:09 of the second quarter, completing a six-play, 98-yard drive that took just over two minutes off the clock. They connected for a 50-yard score 1 1/2 minutes into the third for a 29-0 bulge.

Crabtree, who turns 21 on Sunday, finished with eight catches for 164 yards. It was the 13th time in his career the sophomore surpassed the 100-yard mark.

"He's a big-time player," SMU coach June Jones said. "He's going to get that on a lot of people."

Harrell, who added scoring tosses to Edward Britton and Detron Lewis, completed 31-of-48 passes for 418 yards. The senior led the NCAA with 5,705 passing yards last season.

The five TD passes gave Harrell 97 for his career, surpassing Kliff Kingsbury (95) for the school record.

Taylor Potts came on and went 6-of-7 for 95 yards as Texas Tech racked up 698 yards of total offense.

Batch gained 98 yards on 10 carries and Shannon Woods - who scored two touchdowns in each of his first two games - had 13 rushes for 86 yards for the Red Raiders, who improved to 28-5 at home since the start of the 2003 season.

"It's great to get out there and get tired in a game and know how it feels to almost cramp up," Batch said. "I had a blast. It was a lot of fun. ... I'm just seeing things a bit better and feel like the game is slowing down for me."

Texas Tech finished with 180 yards rushing, its most since gaining 175 against Baylor in 2006.

"We can always run," Batch said. "We have playmakers in every position."

SMU (1-2) avoided a shutout when Logan Turner found Aldrick Robinson from seven yards out with 4:29 remaining in the contest. Turner relieved Bo Levi Mitchell, who was a dismal 13-of-24 for 155 yards with five interceptions.

"He's just got to play within the scheme of things," Jones said of Mitchell. "He hasn't thrown the ball. In his high school, he hasn't been a real passing quarterback. You scramble around and you've got to be able to run the ball and not pass back into the middle of the field. ... He's an 18-year-old kid trying to make things happen, and he's just got to learn to play within himself."

Mitchell attributed his problems to not being entirely familiar with the offense.

"I won't be done learning until the end of the year," he said. "I'm glad I've picked up what I've picked up so far. I got to play my heart out every single game and really just do what the coaches tell me to do. The thing is, you can only learn so much in practice. It's all about game-time decisions and getting out there and playing the games and going against a defense with another color."

"Bo is going to be a great quarterback," Mustangs wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders said. "It's a process. Champions aren't made overnight. ... It's just growing pains, for all of us. It's not just Bo Levi Mitchell, it's this whole team."

Three of Mitchell's interceptions were recorded by Daniel Charbonnet, who set a school record. The strong safety notched the Red Raiders' first multi-pick game since Brock Stratton notched a pair in 2006 against Iowa State.

"A lot of games, you go to the right place and they never throw your way, but it felt good," Charbonnet said. "Everyone was going to the right place, and I just happened to get lucky and they threw it my way. It's just a blessing."

"Daniel Charbonnet did some great things," Texas Tech coach Mike Leach said. "He is a very versatile player."

Sanders hauled in eight passes for 125 yards for the Mustangs, notching his seventh career 100-yard game and fourth in a row.

Donnie Carona opened the scoring for Texas Tech with a 35-yard field goal just 2 1/2 minutes into the game. It was the freshman's first field goal in four attempts this season.