Kingsbury Feeling No Pressure

<br>NORMAN, Okla. (AP) _ Kliff Kingsbury's passing statistics are remarkable to everyone but his coach. <br><br>Texas Tech's Mike Leach is so accustomed to Kingsbury's play, he barely noticed

Friday, November 22nd 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) _ Kliff Kingsbury's passing statistics are remarkable to everyone but his coach.

Texas Tech's Mike Leach is so accustomed to Kingsbury's play, he barely noticed when Kingsbury was selected the Big 12 offensive player of the week after throwing for 473 yards and six touchdowns in a victory over Texas.

Instead, Leach thought his flanker, Wes Welker, might have been considered for the honor.

``They act like last Saturday's game is just some unusual occurrence, some aberration on the radar screen,'' Leach said. ``He's been doing stuff like this for three years.''

Kingsbury is in his fourth season as Tech's quarterback, his third at the controls of Leach's pass-happy offense. On Saturday night, he leads the No. 24 Red Raiders against fourth-ranked Oklahoma for the Big 12 South Division title.

Only a month ago, after a loss to Colorado, Tech was 5-4 overall, 2-2 in the conference. Now the Red Raiders (8-4, 5-2) are within a victory of playing Colorado again for the conference championship.

``Yeah, it's been fun,'' Kingsbury said. ``That's the way you want to go out. It's my last year, so I'm just enjoying it.''

What's not to enjoy? He has thrown for 4,455 yards to move up to No. 4 on the NCAA Division I-A career passing list. He has 41 touchdown passes this season and just 10 interceptions. And his team is winning.

After the loss to Colorado, the Red Raiders beat Baylor 62-11 as Kingsbury threw for 373 yards and three touchdowns. That was followed by a 49-24 victory over Oklahoma State in which he had four TD passes and 425 yards.

He was at his best against Texas, which entered the game with the nation's second-ranked pass defense. Kingsbury burned the Longhorns' man-to-man coverage, going 38-of-60 and rallying his team from a 14-0 first-quarter deficit.

``You've got to do something to get him off his rhythm, and we couldn't do it,'' coach Mack Brown said. ``That's the best I've ever seen him play.''

There have been other highlights. Kingsbury was 49-of-59 for 407 yards and five TDs in a come-from-behind victory at Texas A&M. He was 49-of-70 for 510 yards and five TDs in a victory over Missouri.

Kingsbury is matter of fact about what he does _ read the defense, pick the receiver, then let 'er rip. His coach is just as nonchalant about the Red Raiders' approach.

``I just want to try to get first downs, and try to get three and outs on defense,'' Leach said. ``If you do things like that a whole bunch of times in a row, things will work out for you in the end.''

Kingsbury's performance last week resulted in renewed talk of him as a Heisman Trophy contender. If he were to have another big game against Oklahoma and its defense, then that talk would increase.

But the Sooners (9-1, 5-1) have done well against Kingsbury the past two years. He threw for 259 yards and three touchdowns in a 38-28 victory in 1999, which was his first career start and Bob Stoops' first year as Oklahoma's coach. In 2000, Oklahoma won 27-13 and Kingsbury threw for 295 yards. Last year the Sooners won 30-13, intercepting two of Kingsbury's passes and holding him to a season-low 234 yards.

``Every year you have to earn it again,'' Stoops said. ``We don't take it for granted that everything just stays the same. We've got to go be on top of our game and be able to do that again, and our players understand that.''

Kingsbury seems as relaxed as ever heading into the biggest game of his career.

``I don't feel like I have anything to lose,'' he said. ``My name's never been up for the Heisman really, or anything like that. I'm just going out, having fun and enjoying the moment. We control our own destiny, and that's all we can ask for.''