Texas Tech choked today. Simple. The Red Raiders led by 17 in the second quarter and 10 points at halftime and still managed to lose by 17 points.
I said this week that the formula for Texas Tech to win this game was simple, but it wouldn't be easy. The offense has to play at an elite level and the defense needs to force two or three turnovers. The offense wasn't elite enough -- putting up 53 points on the Big 12's top-ranked scoring defense qualifies as near elite -- and the defense only managed one takeaway. Not good enough.
The Red Raiders have now lost two games this season when scoring 50 or more points. I can't imagine there are many other FBS teams that can say the same.
I thought the decision to go under center on the third quarter 4th and 1 play was a little odd considering how little Texas Tech does that. Granted, Pat Mahomes did score on a quarterback sneak earlier in the game, but that's always been something that Red Raider quarterbacks have struggled with in the Air Raid era.
It ultimately didn't end up costing Texas Tech because of how terrible the team's defense is, but the confusion on the sideline regarding whether to go for two after the Red Raiders' final touchdown was not a good look. That should have been something that everyone was prepared for and instead the team had to burn a time out.
Texas Tech has now lost 16 consecutive Big 12 games to teams not named Kansas or Iowa State. The program is now 0-18 since 2012 against Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Baylor, Kansas State and Texas.
I thought both sides of the ball played well -- or about as well as could have been expected in the case of the defense -- and then completely fell apart in the second half.
Special teams was a complete and total disaster in the second half. I'm certainly no coach or punting expert, but it seemed to me that Michael Barden walked himself into the rush on the near block. Barden dropped the snap on a punt, the team gave up a punt return for a touchdown, Clayton Hatfield kicked a kickoff out of bounds. Just a disaster.
The offense absolutely has to get more out of its outside receivers. It got almost nothing out of that group today, and the inability of those guys to win 1-on-1 battles played a major role in the offensive issues in the second half. Reginald Davis and Devin Lauderdale combined to catch five passes, and two of those receptions came in garbage time.
I felt like Texas Tech's inability to regularly get more than two or three yards on the ground was a huge part of their offensive struggles as well. Washington's final stat line doesn't look bad -- and he got every yard that was available, so this isn't a criticism of him -- but 31 of his 95 yards came on his first run of the game. He logged just 64 yards the rest of the way out on 21 carries.
Jakeem Grant kept the offense going in the first half, and Ian Sadler provided that spark (to some degree) in the second half. There isn't much positive to take away from this performance, but the play of Grant and Sadler falls in that category.
Kingsbury is now .500 (17-17) at Texas Tech.
Texas Tech's four losses this season have all come to top 15 teams with a combined record of 30-1. That's a nice stat, but it means absolutely nothing if the Red Raiders start adding losses to 3-4 West Virginia, 3-4 Kansas State and/or 3-4 Texas.
I said this week that the formula for Texas Tech to win this game was simple, but it wouldn't be easy. The offense has to play at an elite level and the defense needs to force two or three turnovers. The offense wasn't elite enough -- putting up 53 points on the Big 12's top-ranked scoring defense qualifies as near elite -- and the defense only managed one takeaway. Not good enough.
The Red Raiders have now lost two games this season when scoring 50 or more points. I can't imagine there are many other FBS teams that can say the same.
I thought the decision to go under center on the third quarter 4th and 1 play was a little odd considering how little Texas Tech does that. Granted, Pat Mahomes did score on a quarterback sneak earlier in the game, but that's always been something that Red Raider quarterbacks have struggled with in the Air Raid era.
It ultimately didn't end up costing Texas Tech because of how terrible the team's defense is, but the confusion on the sideline regarding whether to go for two after the Red Raiders' final touchdown was not a good look. That should have been something that everyone was prepared for and instead the team had to burn a time out.
Texas Tech has now lost 16 consecutive Big 12 games to teams not named Kansas or Iowa State. The program is now 0-18 since 2012 against Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Baylor, Kansas State and Texas.
I thought both sides of the ball played well -- or about as well as could have been expected in the case of the defense -- and then completely fell apart in the second half.
Special teams was a complete and total disaster in the second half. I'm certainly no coach or punting expert, but it seemed to me that Michael Barden walked himself into the rush on the near block. Barden dropped the snap on a punt, the team gave up a punt return for a touchdown, Clayton Hatfield kicked a kickoff out of bounds. Just a disaster.
The offense absolutely has to get more out of its outside receivers. It got almost nothing out of that group today, and the inability of those guys to win 1-on-1 battles played a major role in the offensive issues in the second half. Reginald Davis and Devin Lauderdale combined to catch five passes, and two of those receptions came in garbage time.
I felt like Texas Tech's inability to regularly get more than two or three yards on the ground was a huge part of their offensive struggles as well. Washington's final stat line doesn't look bad -- and he got every yard that was available, so this isn't a criticism of him -- but 31 of his 95 yards came on his first run of the game. He logged just 64 yards the rest of the way out on 21 carries.
Jakeem Grant kept the offense going in the first half, and Ian Sadler provided that spark (to some degree) in the second half. There isn't much positive to take away from this performance, but the play of Grant and Sadler falls in that category.
Kingsbury is now .500 (17-17) at Texas Tech.
Texas Tech's four losses this season have all come to top 15 teams with a combined record of 30-1. That's a nice stat, but it means absolutely nothing if the Red Raiders start adding losses to 3-4 West Virginia, 3-4 Kansas State and/or 3-4 Texas.
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