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1. The Decade of Suck
The loss to Kansas on Saturday was the final, emphatic nail in the coffin for Texas Tech’s Decade of Suck.
Sure, the Red Raiders had been the victim of larger upsets – the team was a slightly bigger favorite against Kansas State last season, for example – and much more thorough beatings over the last nine-plus seasons, but becoming the fifth Big 12 team to lose to Kansas in nine seasons is a uniquely humiliating way to close out what is now the worst decade in program history.
With four games left in the 2019 season, Texas Tech can finish no better than 33-56 in Big 12 play over the last decade. Even if the team wins out, the Red Raiders’ conference winning percentage in the 2010s is guaranteed to be lower than any other decade, even the 1980s (37.2) and 1960s (39.4).
66-6. Blown out at home by Iowa State the week after beating No. 1 Oklahoma. 82-27. Posting a 13-16 record with Patrick Mahomes. 66-10. Baker Mayfield. The Kansas loss.
Eleven different starting quarterbacks. Seven different defensive coordinators. Five different losing streaks of four or more games. One top-five Big 12 finish.
This is as close to rock bottom as this program has ever been, and it will fall even further if things don’t get turned around quickly.
2. Two questions heading into Week 10
Who starts at quarterback against West Virginia? Jett Duffey has completed more than 68 percent of his passes for 1,420 yards, nine touchdowns and just two interceptions this season. He’s 1-3 as a starter, but I don’t think any serious person would suggest that Duffey was a major negative in any of those losses. Alan Bowman was throwing on the field before the game Saturday and it seems very possible that he’ll be available for Texas Tech’s Nov. 9 game against West Virginia. Duffey isn't the reason why the Red Raiders are 3-5, but could Matt Wells and David Yost look to Bowman to bring some sort of spark to the team?
Just how bad is it going to get? The Red Raiders have an open week before playing their final four games and, the way things look now, they may not be favored the rest of the way out. Making a bowl game seems like an unreachable goal, but there’s a big difference between 5-7 and 3-9, and closing out 2019 with seven-straight losses would make for an incredibly long and uncomfortable offseason.
3. Three notable stats
… Texas Tech’s defense held Pooka Williams to the third-lowest yards per carry average of his career. Williams logged 69 yards on 21 carries, averaging 3.3 yards per tote.
… Jett Duffey is the first Texas Tech quarterback to not throw an interception in consecutive Big 12 starts since Patrick Mahomes kept a clean sheet against Texas and Oklahoma in 2014.
… Texas Tech has been favored in four of its last eight games against Power Five opponents, dating back to last year – Kansas 2019, Arizona 2019, Baylor 2018 and Kansas State 2018. The Red Raiders lost all four.
4. Four things that stand out after diving through the PFF numbers
… Last week against Iowa State, Duffey had 25 pass attempts to targets behind the line of scrimmage and just two throws that traveled 20 or more yards downfield. Against Kansas, Duffey had just 11 attempts behind the line of scrimmage and had five throws that went 20-plus yards downfield. Duffey was 9-of-11 for 153 yards and a touchdown on throws that were past the line of scrimmage and between the numbers.
… Damarcus Fields had, by far, the Red Raiders’ best coverage grade on Saturday (85.5). He was targeted 13 times but allowed just one first down, minus-2 yards after the catch and 60 yards total. Adrian Frye’s coverage grade of 40.2 was the worst on the team; I’m sure one of his hands being wrapped in a cast contributed to his struggles.
… The offensive line was a mixed bag against Kansas, according to PFF. The group posted another strong pass block grade (82.5) but struggled in run blocking. Travis Bruffy had the second-highest pass block grade on the team (83.4) and the lowest run blocking grade (44.2). Madison Akamnonu had a strong day when blocking for Duffey (83.7) but couldn’t duplicate that performance in the run game (63.1).
… SaRodorick Thompson’s fourth quarter drop was the only recorded drop of the game for the Red Raiders.
5. Five observations from Week 9
… Baylor may have been idle, but the Bears were the big winners this weekend in the Big 12. Thanks to losses from Oklahoma, Texas and Iowa State, Baylor skates into November as a favorite to make the Big 12 Championship Game. The Bears still have to play Texas and Oklahoma – both games are in Waco – but now they can survive a loss and still finish as one of the league’s top two teams. That blown fumble call is looming large in the Big 12 race.
… Texas is 5-3 and still plays Kansas State, at Iowa State, at Baylor and Texas Tech. It’s exceedingly possible that the Longhorns finish 7-5 at best. What a faceplant that would be by Tom Herman.
… Minnesota is 8-0, ranked No. 13 in the AP Top 25, and has feasted on a soft schedule. The Fighting P.J. Flecks have outscored their last three opponents – Nebraska, Rutgers and Maryland – 128-24. Not bad. We will see what the Gophers are made of when they play Penn State on Nov. 9.
… Chad Morris is 4-15 at Arkansas. His next Power Five victory will be his first. Yikes.
… If I had a vote, here’s how I’d rank the top five teams in the country: 1. LSU, 2. Ohio State, 3. Alabama, 4. Clemson, Penn State.
