Texas Tech football: Do Red Raiders need Alan Bowman against Kansas?

The status of starting quarterback Alan Bowman is in doubt this week but does the Texas Tech football program need him to play against Kansas if possible?  The answer is not as simple as one might think.

The Big 12’s version of a second bye week has arrived on the schedule as the Kansas Jayhawks come to town.  The Texas Tech football program holds an 18-1 lead in the all-time series and is riding an 11-game winning streak over KU.

And because of the Jayhawks’ long-running ineptitude, (47-consecutive road Big 12 losses) many fans believe that this is the perfect time for Texas Tech to give starting QB Alan Bowman an extra week off before throwing him back into action.

The true freshman sensation from Grapevine, Texas was knocked out of the Red Raiders’ loss to West Virginia on September 29th after suffering a partially collapsed lung.  At the time of the injury and in the days shortly after, many feared that Bowman might miss the remainder of the season.

Fortunately, his recovery has progressed quickly allowing him to participate in practices even before last week’s game against TCU.  But it is unknown whether he is ready to see live action and absorb hits at full speed.

That makes many think that the best move for Kliff Kingsbury is to give backup QB Jett Duffey his second career start this week.  However, the 2018 version of the KU defense makes that decision far more difficult than it may seem.

That is because the Jayhawks lead the nation in turnovers forced with 18.  Even more important to this discussion is the fact that KU is tied for fifth overall with eleven interceptions.

Taking a page from the playbook of Texas Tech defensive coordinator David Gibbs, the Jayhawks have built a surprisingly effective defense around the premise of taking the ball away from opponents.

That has allowed them to remain in all three of their Big 12 games despite being severely out gained.  Consider their 38-22 road loss to West Virginia in their last game.

KU forced four turnovers by WVU quarterback Will Grier (including thee interceptions) to keep the game within reach despite being out gained 509-286.  If an upset is in store for Saturday, KU will likely have to repeat that type of defensive performance against the Red Raiders.

And if Jett Duffey starts, Kansas may be confident in their ability to do just that.  Throughout the 2018 offseason QB competition, Kliff Kingsbury repeatedly hinted that Duffey’s inability to protect the football was his greatest concern when it came to the once highly-touted recruit.

Unfortunately, that has fear come to fruition on the field this year.  Duffey leads the team in interceptions (4) tossing one more than Bowman despite having attempted 139 fewer passes.

To put it another way, Bowman is averaging one interception for every 66.3 passes thrown.  Duffey is averaging one interception for every 15 passes thrown.

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If Kansas can rattle a QB like Will Grier and force him into three interceptions, there’s reason to worry about whether the inexperienced and wildly erratic Jett Duffey can avoid the same fate.  And we have already see how Duffey interceptions can cost the Red Raiders dearly.

Against West Virginia, he tossed an inexplicable 4th quarter interception that sealed the win for the Mountaineers when it was returned for a touchdown.  The play was frustrating because Duffey looked off an open Ja’Deion High in the right slot only to turn and loft a lazy pass in the direction of Antoine Wesley on the complete opposite side of the field without hardly looking in that direction.

Those types of mistakes can’t be repeated this weekend.  Kansas struggles to score points averaging only 27.7 per game and 19.9 in Big 12 play.

What’s more, Kansas has already scored three defensive touchdowns this year.  But on the other 15 drives following a KU takeaway, the Jayhawks have scored just 35 total points.  In other words, Tech can’t afford to help the upset attempt by giving away cheap touchdowns.

Certainly, if Alan Bowman is not fit to play and can’t fully protect himself, he should not play.  But if he is cleared by doctors and will not be at risk by taking the field this week, Texas Tech needs him to play.

Certainly, it would be optimal for Bowman to have an extra week to revoker but given the nature of Kansas’ defense and Jett Duffey’s proclivity for throwing interceptions, Texas Tech should not take any chances.  A loss to Kansas would virtually erase all of the momentum the Red Raiders built in their 4-2 start so to make certain that does not happen, ball security from the quarterbacks must be Kingsbury’s top priority.