Texas Tech place kicker Alex Trlica, center, holder Danny Amendola, right, and Virginia's Clint Sintim watch as Trlica's kick goes through the uprights. The late field goal gave Tech a 31-28 victory in the Gator Bowl on Tuesday in Jacksonville, Fla.

Jacksonville, Fla. ? Texas Tech didn’t score 40 or more points, as it had all season. Through three quarters, the nation’s top passing offense couldn’t score much at all.

But Graham Harrell stayed with it, finishing 44-of-69 for 407 yards and three TDs, and the Red Raiders scored just enough to overcome a 14-point deficit and stun No. 21 Virginia, 31-28, on a late field goal in the Gator Bowl on Tuesday.

Alex Trlica hit from 41 yards, despite swirling wind, with two seconds remaining. It was the third game-winner of the senior kicker’s career, and it came at an appropriate time: Earlier in the game, Trlica became the first kicker in school history to score at least 100 points in a season.

“I think it gets easier with every time,” Trlica said of winning field goals. “Compared to the first time I had to do it and this time, I was a lot more calm. I knew they were going to call timeout.”

Virginia coach Al Groh did, but it didn’t faze Trlica.

Tech overcame several mental errors, including pivotal penalties and a fumble, to come back from a 28-14 fourth quarter deficit. Its aggressive pass offense couldn’t score much for three quarters, but Harrell still managed to rack up Gator Bowl records for yards, completions and attempts.

In the final period, the Red Raiders finally found the end zone as they were accustomed to all year. Twice, actually, and Trlica’s field goal did the rest.

“I was thinking, ‘Hey, if we can just get into field goal range we’re probably going to win this,” Harrell said. “But I wanted to go throw it myself. When we kick, I just hate kicking. You’re no longer in control.”

Just a few minutes earlier, the Cavaliers seemed to be in control. A Tech drive kept alive by two fourth down conversions sputtered with eight minutes left, as All-American Michael Crabtree couldn’t haul in a prayer in the end zone on fourth-and-one.

But a few minutes after that, Harrell found him in the same spot against the same defender, and this time it worked – despite a pass interference call.

Then, Virginia gave Tech a gift. The ball was knocked out of backup Virginia quarterback Peter Lalich’s hands at the 4 yard line, Tech recovered and Aaron Crawford’s run a play later tied it at 28.

“Those guys are hard to hold down, and we held them down for a long time,” Cavaliers coach Al Groh said. “There were two possessions where we should have had the ball that we didn’t – the onside kick to start the second half and fumble at the end of the game.”

The Red Raiders overcame a tremendous effort by Virginia tailback Mikell Simpson, who ran for 170 yards on 20 carries – including a NCAA bowl-record 96-yard TD run – and caught another touchdown. Pretty impressive, considering he was playing receiver for the Cavaliers until backfield injuries pressed him into service in October.

Virginia’s offense wasn’t the same after losing Jameel Sewell at the start of the fourth quarter. His statistics weren’t outstanding – 14-of-23 passing for 78 yards and a TD – but he commanded the offense well.