SAN ANTONIO (AP) -Ruffin McNeill and Texas Tech closed out a difficult week with a game Mike Leach would've loved.
Finally, the Red Raiders could unwind a little.
With everyone still talking about their fired coach, the Red Raiders blocked out the distractions and rallied to beat Michigan State 41-31 in a shootout at the Alamo Bowl on Saturday night after a week that left Texas Tech in turmoil.
The Red Raiders fired Leach on Wednesday amid allegations he mistreated Adam James. The wide receiver, son of ESPN analyst Craig James, got a hostile reception all night from the crowd, who booed the sophomore so loud that it drowned out the marching band at halftime.
But when it was over, there were only cheers. The crowd chanted "Ruffin!" in a thank-you to the interim coach who navigated the Red Raiders through a week the school is desperate to forget.
"This feels great," running back Eric Stephens said. "I love coach Leach. He's a great coach. But we got behind coach Ruffin and gave him a great victory."
Flanked by two security guards as Texas Tech celebrated, James declined comment.
The controversy surrounding Leach didn't even quiet long enough to let Saturday belong to the game.
Hours before kickoff, Texas Tech released an affidavit in which school athletic trainer Steve Pincock says he told James he was "sorry" for having placed the player inside an equipment shed near the practice field. Pincock told Tech officials he didn't agree with that "form of treatment for anyone."
Just another layer to a bowl game that cornered the market on turmoil.
No bowl teams in the country kicked off with in more upheaval than Texas Tech and Michigan State. Leach's firing did Michigan State the favor of drawing attention from its own black eye: 14 players who didn't make the trip in the wake of a Nov. 22 dormitory brawl.
Nine Michigan State players face charges of misdemeanor assault. But the short-handed Spartans held their own.
They took a 28-27 lead into the fourth quarter, and appeared to get a break when Tech quarterback Taylor Potts left the game with an injury after throwing for an Alamo Bowl-record 372 yards and two touchdowns.
But this was still a Leach-built team. And in his offense, just about any quarterback thrives.
Trailing 31-27, backup Steven Sheffield marched Texas Tech downfield in eight plays, the last an 11-yard touchdown pass to Detron Lewis to put the Red Raiders ahead. Baron Batch tacked on a 25-yard touchdown run to put it away.