3 Quick Take-Aways From Texas Tech’s 37- 28 Loss At Kansas State. Of Defense, Offensive Identity And How The Officials Did NOT Cost Texas Tech A Game…

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We Did We Learn Saturday About The Red Raiders?

What did we learn Saturday about Texas Tech in their 37-28 loss at Kansas State? Well…we learned that we’re still learning a lot about Texas Tech under Joey McGuire and this staff and that the team is probably feeling the same way. Two steps forward, one back, three back, five forward and then something weird happens and sometimes its really good and sometimes its really bad. Felt like we saw four different games in one Saturday when it comes to the Red Raiders. The upside is high, the downside is low and the middle is where you’re ending up. And that’s not shocking. Nor unexpected.

So let’s talk about what we are taking away from Manhattan on to Stillwater.

1. No flies on this Texas Tech defense. This defense is good. Not great, but good. Ignore the 37 points scored. They offense continually put them in bad spots, again by decision and by poor play, and the defense did all they could. Tim DeRuyter should be up for assistant coach of the year if this defense continues for Texas Tech. Not appreciably better, maybe slightly worse from last season talent-wise, yet the performance continues to impress. Culture and Scheme matter. Credit to McGuire for identifying a DC who can accept and work with the Joey-Lytics that are putting his defense in bad spots each week. Not for the meek and mild. The defense might have given up a couple of long-plays by Adrian Martinez and Deuce Vaughn, but I’d priced that in before the game. The rest of the time they gave you a shot to win.
2. The Texas Tech offense is really good and really bad, all at once. I wrote late in the third quarter that I felt like this offense has an Identity Crisis. By that, I mean Im not sure even the coaches know for sure what exactly they want to feature, focus on, establish or make the signature of the offense right now. It seems it’s a week-to-week, play-to-play grab-bag of what might work right here. Of course I just described a ton of great offenses. You take what the defense gives you. That said, at some point, you need to dictate to a defense something for them to take-away. I’m not sure this offense is there yet and might not get there this year. This by the way, is where folks want me to write about Texas Tech QB play and what I think should happen. I think the best thing that could happen is that the QB Texas Tech coaches identified as the best QB gets healthy and is able to play and a high-level the rest of the year and not make Negative Plays. That’s what I think.
3. Officials didn’t cost Texas Tech the game. They blew it, literally it seems on the late interception, but they didn’t cost Texas Tech the game. I would love to have seen what would have played out if that play had been ruled dead or if the obvious DPI had been called earlier, but they didn’t cost Tech the game. That said, the Big 12 seems to have major problems each week when it comes to officiating. Is it just a Texas Tech-Thing or is it a Big 12 thing? Don’t know. I do know that Both college football and the NFL have a major problem that each week the officials seem to make headlines. That tells me the rules are bad, convoluted and too hard to administer. Blow it up and re-write the rule book for both levels. It’s 2022. No need to be hampered by 100-plus years of mish-mash. Start the rule fresh and clean and make it easy for officials to officiate. Also, if they screw-up one call, just one call a week, make it legal to throw spoiled produce at them in a public place. It’s the right thing to do!

Hyatt