AUSTIN, Texas -- Yep, the quarterback rotation still works for Texas.
Chance Mock, the former starter who had lost his job to Vince Young and seen his playing time dwindle with every game, came off the bench with two minutes left Saturday night to lead No. 6 Texas to a wild 43-40 win over Texas Tech.
Mock's 9-yard touchdown pass to B.J. Johnson with 46 seconds left kept alive the Longhorns' hopes of playing in the Bowl Championship Series, where Texas (9-2, 6-1 Big 12) was No. 5 in the latest standings.
"He's tough. He's smart," Texas coach Mack Brown said of Mock. "He handles pressure about as well as anybody I've been around."
Brown made one of the boldest moves of his tenure at Texas in deciding to put Mock in the game.
Young had played the entire game and passed for 213 yards and two touchdowns, but the offense sputtered in the fourth quarter as the Red Raiders (7-4, 4-3) rallied from a 35-21 deficit. Young's third turnover -- a fumble on a sack on fourth down -- set up Tech's go-ahead touchdown.
The Red Raiders went up 40-35 with 2:03 left on Taurean Henderson's third touchdown run of the night, and Tech looked ready to spoil Texas' BCS hopes again. The Red Raiders knocked Texas out of the BCS picture with an upset win in Lubbock last year.
With 86 yards to cover and no timeouts, Mock ran Texas' two-minute offense to perfection.
His 54-yard pass to Roy Williams -- who had eight catches for 136 yards -- got Texas out from deep in its own territory and Mock scrambled for another first down four plays later.
The touchdown came when Mock floated a pass into the corner of the end zone and Johnson made a sliding, over-the-shoulder catch.
Mock also ran in the 2-point conversion that gave Texas the three-point cushion.
"Words can't describe it," Mock said. "There's a 30-second gap after that pass I can't even remember right now. I was fighting back a few tears. It was a very emotional time for me."
Texas Tech had a chance to send it into overtime.
B.J. Symons, who passed for 365 yards and three touchdowns, drove the Red Raiders to the Texas 31 with 5 seconds left. Keith Toogood, who had two extra points blocked because of low kicks, got plenty of height on his final attempt but missed wide left on a 48-yard field goal as time expired.
Texas players stormed the field as several Red Raiders tried to console Toogood, who fell to his knees.
"We had them on the ropes," said Symons, who completed 32 of 56 passes but was left standing on the sideline with his hands on his hips as the Longhorns celebrated.
"I really feel like we let them away with one at the end," Symons said.
Symons threw two TD passes to Mickey Peters and Tech rallied behind Henderson's two fourth-quarter touchdowns, the last from 10 yards out.
The Tech defense, which came in as one of the worst units in the country, stifled Texas for 13 minutes of the fourth quarter. Jamaal Jackson's interception set up Henderson's first touchdown in the period that pulled Tech to 35-34, and the sack of Young ended the Texas drive that threatened to put the game away.
But the Red Raiders had no answer for Mock, who advised Texas coaches not to put him in when Young was playing well in the first half.
Given the chance to be a hero, Mock when 4-of-5 on the final drive for 74 yards.
"My job lately has been to help Vincent. To do that, I have to keep my head in the ballgame and stay focused and ready."
"I wish we would have put him in earlier, he throws the ball so well,"Brown said. "We felt really good about him going into the game."
Cedric Benson ran for 142 yards -- his third straight game over 100 -- and two TDs for the Longhorns.
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