Texas Tech will be one of the last two football teams in the Big 12 Conference to get a break in its schedule. But the way Mike Leach sees it, his Red Raiders have already had enough time off.

The last two Saturdays, Tech has established new standards for the largest comebacks in school history. First came a 70-35 drubbing of Texas Christian that started out with the Horned Frogs racing to a 21-0 lead. Then the Red Raiders went to Kansas, where somehow they spun free of a 30-5 halftime grip KU had on them to rally for a 31-30 win.

"If I had (figured out the answer to the slow starts), we wouldn't sit here talking about the school record for comebacks," Leach said Monday. "It's kind of like I wish we wouldn't, but by the same token I'd rather have broken them than not."

Next up for Tech is a game at Oklahoma on Saturday. While the Red Raiders' wide-open, pass-based offense is set up to bunch points in a hurry, Leach understands it's probably not in his club's best interest to have to play catchup with the No. 2 Sooners.

"It wasn't a good thing against the other teams, either," he said. "I mean, you try not to get behind, but if you do you might as well stay there and fight through it and try to win.

"… I was proud of the way nobody quit (the last two weeks). We need to start faster, though."

If Kansas had the same kind of closing kick as Leach's team, the Jayhawks might enter their contest at Nebraska on Saturday with a 4-0 record instead of 2-2.

The week before playing Tech, KU dropped a 20-17 decision at Northwestern. The Jayhawks had overcome a 13-3 lead with a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns, but allowed the Wildcats an 81-yard TD drive that took just four plays and 80 seconds, then missed a field goal that likely would have sent the game into overtime.

Kansas coach Mark Mangino said his team has had no trouble playing with effort and confidence, but is finding out that it's not as  easy to deal with success.

"We've played very, very well," he offered. "The next step is learning how to close those games in the fourth quarter. I can't go to the library and refer to any particular area (on that subject). It's something we've got to teach our kids.

"The bad news is we lost two tough games. The good news is there's some valuable lessons to be learned, and our kids have always been good students of the game of football. They'll bounce back."

Texas Tech has been able to answer the bell in large part because of its defense. Although the Red Raiders rank just 11th in the league in points allowed, they shut Kansas out in the second half. And after falling behind TCU 21-0, they allowed no first downs for seven straight series, which helped lead to a 49-21 Tech advantage.

Leach's reputation as a passing-game genius also has overshadowed the talent of running back Taurean Henderson. You probably wouldn't guess that the junior has reached the end zone a league-best six times, nor that against Kansas he rushed for 169 yards and reeled off a late 70-yard TD run that put the dagger in the Jayhawks.

Of course, no one participating in Monday's Big 12 coaches' teleconference was interested in asking Leach about the biggest game by a Red Raider back since he took over the program in 2000. Their fascination was on how a team that has trailed in every one of its games has managed to go 3-1.

"I wish I knew (what to fix)," Leach said. "We've got plenty of material for good drives, and how to do it, good tempo, all of that. We just need to duplicate all of that early."

Reach Curt McKeever at 473-7441 or cmckeever@journalstar.com.