Another week, another Texas Tech loss and for many in the Red Raiders' fan base, disgust with Matt Wells grows over his decision-making.
With Tech trailing 28-19 Saturday at TCU and in the midst of a promising drive, the Tech coach pulled the offense off the field and sent in the kicker for a 37-yard field goal on second-and-4 with just under three minutes left.
Wells explained later that he needed two scores — a touchdown and a field goal — to win the game. His thinking: Once in the kicker's range, take the three points ASAP, make it a one-possession game and use his remaining three timeouts to try and get the ball back with time to finish the job.
Those best-laid plans blew up when Trey Wolff missed the field goal.
Folks' patience has worn thin because, in any close game, especially any close loss, you can find a decision to quibble with. In Wells' case, there was the failed fourth-and-1 at the Houston Baptist 4 late in the fourth quarter that made that narrow victory needlessly more of a nailbiter. And the poorly executed sky kick in the fourth quarter against Texas, derided by many as giving the Longhorns' field position that jump-started their improbable come-from-behind win.
(I wonder if any of the Wells critics noticed that D'Shawn Jamison, the Texas return man from whom Wells played keep-away, returned one 100 yards for a touchdown last week at Oklahoma State. That started Texas' comeback from a 31-20 deficit to a 41-34 victory in overtime.)
And Saturday's controversial decision at TCU to go for the field goal on second-and-4? Not what I would have done, but as was the case with the sky-kick against UT, the choice was not incontrovertibly wrong.
That's not to say those in charge of the program and the people who support it shouldn't have concerns. I can think of quite a few, and I'll redirect the conversation here to what Wells says his program must be about: recruiting and development.
The development part is the most alarming. I think the defense looks better, but it doesn't matter if the unit can't get stops with games on the line — as against Texas and Kansas State and again Saturday at TCU, when Max Duggan went 81 yards for the clinching touchdown right after the missed field goal.
In most facets of the team, it's hard to make a case the Red Raiders are getting appreciably better, and in some cases they're demonstrably worse. More than halfway through the season, Tech's made one field goal and had four punts blocked, a ratio that would be hard to fathom any year, but especially now, given the success those units enjoyed last year.
After seven games, only Erik Ezukanma has more than 240 yards receiving. Joel Filani, who coaches the outside guys, once had more than that in one game. More receivers should be more productive, regardless of their recent injuries and regardless of the move toward a more balanced offensive approach.
Of course, the passing game would be better if the quarterbacks were better, and this leads to the most puzzling case of all: Why aren't they? Specifically, why has David Yost not gotten more out of Alan Bowman, especially, and Henry Colombi? Because that's not his track record.
The past two decades, Yost has had one QB after another go on to a long career in pro football: Brad Smith, nine years in the NFL; Chase Daniel, 12 years and counting in the NFL; Blaine Gabbert, 10 years and counting in the NFL; James Franklin, six years and counting in the CFL and that league's leader in rushing touchdowns two years ago.
During their time at Missouri, when Big 12 North and Big 12 South teams played each other only twice every four years, they engineered four wins against Tech, by scores of 62-31, 38-21, 41-10 and 31-27. If Yost could help design quality offenses at Mizzou, over a span of 12 seasons with multiple quarterbacks, why not here?
The list of Yost QBs with long NFL careers figures to grow, given that this spring two more — Justin Herbert from Oregon and Jordan Love from Utah State — entered the NFL as first-round picks. Love's ascent under Wells and Yost is well-chronicled. Less well chronicled is that Herbert, with Yost as his position coach, threw for nearly 2,000 yards and 19 touchdowns while starting seven games as a true freshman.
So for folks who want to question Wells' decisions in game, that's fair.
But it's more concerning that the Red Raiders so often find themselves in positions that magnify the importance of those decisions. If the Red Raiders were making measurable progress as a program, the ones that didn't work out wouldn't be such killers.
With Tech trailing 28-19 Saturday at TCU and in the midst of a promising drive, the Tech coach pulled the offense off the field and sent in the kicker for a 37-yard field goal on second-and-4 with just under three minutes left.
Wells explained later that he needed two scores — a touchdown and a field goal — to win the game. His thinking: Once in the kicker's range, take the three points ASAP, make it a one-possession game and use his remaining three timeouts to try and get the ball back with time to finish the job.
Those best-laid plans blew up when Trey Wolff missed the field goal.
Folks' patience has worn thin because, in any close game, especially any close loss, you can find a decision to quibble with. In Wells' case, there was the failed fourth-and-1 at the Houston Baptist 4 late in the fourth quarter that made that narrow victory needlessly more of a nailbiter. And the poorly executed sky kick in the fourth quarter against Texas, derided by many as giving the Longhorns' field position that jump-started their improbable come-from-behind win.
(I wonder if any of the Wells critics noticed that D'Shawn Jamison, the Texas return man from whom Wells played keep-away, returned one 100 yards for a touchdown last week at Oklahoma State. That started Texas' comeback from a 31-20 deficit to a 41-34 victory in overtime.)
And Saturday's controversial decision at TCU to go for the field goal on second-and-4? Not what I would have done, but as was the case with the sky-kick against UT, the choice was not incontrovertibly wrong.
That's not to say those in charge of the program and the people who support it shouldn't have concerns. I can think of quite a few, and I'll redirect the conversation here to what Wells says his program must be about: recruiting and development.
The development part is the most alarming. I think the defense looks better, but it doesn't matter if the unit can't get stops with games on the line — as against Texas and Kansas State and again Saturday at TCU, when Max Duggan went 81 yards for the clinching touchdown right after the missed field goal.
In most facets of the team, it's hard to make a case the Red Raiders are getting appreciably better, and in some cases they're demonstrably worse. More than halfway through the season, Tech's made one field goal and had four punts blocked, a ratio that would be hard to fathom any year, but especially now, given the success those units enjoyed last year.
After seven games, only Erik Ezukanma has more than 240 yards receiving. Joel Filani, who coaches the outside guys, once had more than that in one game. More receivers should be more productive, regardless of their recent injuries and regardless of the move toward a more balanced offensive approach.
Of course, the passing game would be better if the quarterbacks were better, and this leads to the most puzzling case of all: Why aren't they? Specifically, why has David Yost not gotten more out of Alan Bowman, especially, and Henry Colombi? Because that's not his track record.
The past two decades, Yost has had one QB after another go on to a long career in pro football: Brad Smith, nine years in the NFL; Chase Daniel, 12 years and counting in the NFL; Blaine Gabbert, 10 years and counting in the NFL; James Franklin, six years and counting in the CFL and that league's leader in rushing touchdowns two years ago.
During their time at Missouri, when Big 12 North and Big 12 South teams played each other only twice every four years, they engineered four wins against Tech, by scores of 62-31, 38-21, 41-10 and 31-27. If Yost could help design quality offenses at Mizzou, over a span of 12 seasons with multiple quarterbacks, why not here?
The list of Yost QBs with long NFL careers figures to grow, given that this spring two more — Justin Herbert from Oregon and Jordan Love from Utah State — entered the NFL as first-round picks. Love's ascent under Wells and Yost is well-chronicled. Less well chronicled is that Herbert, with Yost as his position coach, threw for nearly 2,000 yards and 19 touchdowns while starting seven games as a true freshman.
So for folks who want to question Wells' decisions in game, that's fair.
But it's more concerning that the Red Raiders so often find themselves in positions that magnify the importance of those decisions. If the Red Raiders were making measurable progress as a program, the ones that didn't work out wouldn't be such killers.
