Texas Tech football: Moral victory against West Virginia is not good enough

The Texas Tech football team’s 42-34 loss to No. 12 West Virginia Saturday in Lubbock left Red Raider fans to grapple with mixed emotions but ultimately, a moral victory is not good enough.

It has now been almost 24 hours since the Texas Tech football team’s 4th quarter rally against West Virginia came up short but still it feels like the fanbase as a whole has yet to put this game to bed. That is because of the mixed emotions we are left with following a game that saw Tech fall behind 35-10 at halftime only to pull to within 8 points on two occasions late in the game.

Now, the Red Raider faithful (which are already quite divided on their opinions of Kliff Kingsbury) are dealing with conflicting feelings about what we saw Saturday. On the one hand, there is frustration and anger as Tech lost its eighth-consecutive home Big 12 game.

The last time Texas Tech beat a conference rival in Lubbock was September 29th, 2016. On that Thursday night, the Red Raiders beat Kansas 55-19 despite losing starting quarterback Patrick Mahomes to a shoulder injury.

Unfortunately, injured quarterbacks have become the story of the 2018 season as for the second time in five games, Kliff Kingsbury lost his starting QB in the first half of a game. In week one, McLane Carter was knocked out of the game with an ankle injury and against West Virginia, Alan Bowman left the game with an unspecified injury to the chest or ribs.

But unlike in the 2016 game against KU, Tech has been unable to overcome its quarterback injuries this year. Yet, despite having to turn to former 3rd-string QB Jett Duffey, the Red Raiders clawed their way back into the game leaving many fans to feel encouraged by and proud of their team’s effort.

How many times in the Kingsbury era have we seen Texas Tech fall behind by multiple scores early in a game and throw in the towel? It has happened far too often.

Such was the case in an 82-27 loss at TCU in 2014 or in 2016’s 48-17 home loss to West Virginia. Likewise, Tech had no fight after falling behind big to Iowa State two years ago in a 66-10 debacle.

But when this year’s team had an opportunity to fold up shop, it dug deep and found the nerve to scrap its way back into the game. Certainly, that effort should not be overlooked nor should it be taken for granted but the question remains: should that be the main takeaway from this game?

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Certainly, no one in the Texas Tech football program has any interest in moral victories. An 8-point loss counts the same in the standings as a 58-point loss.

However, with the current state of the program, the attitude of the Red Raider faithful is critical. As is evident by the sparse home crowds over the past two seasons, the Red Raiders are in danger of losing a huge portion of the fan base as we near the half-way mark of Kliff Kingsbury’s sixth year and it will take more than good efforts and moral victories to win jaded fans back.

And perhaps therein lies the reality. After five-plus seasons of frustration and futility (Kingsbury is now 17-30 in Big 12 games), moral victories do not carry as much weight as they did in year one of the Kingsbury experiment.

When a new coach is building a program from scratch, close calls abasing good teams can easily be spun as signs of progress (as was the case for Texas A&M earlier this year in their 2-point home loss to Clemson in Jimbo Fisher’s first season). But Kingsbury has had ample time to get this program headed upwards and again on Saturday, as has far too often been the case, his team could not capitalize on a huge opportunity.

Credit this team and this coaching staff for battling back from adversity. Taking the No. 12 team in the nation to the wire with your third-string QB (while also missing your most talented receiver in T.J. Vasher) is admirable but ultimately, it is not enough.

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This was another Big 12 loss that yet again prevents the program from taking a much-needed step forward. Regardless of the character the team showed against West Virginia, the painful reality is that in year six of the Kingsbury tenure, moral victories should not be what Texas Tech football fans hang their hat on.

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