Texas Tech football: De’Quan Bowman should no longer return kicks

The Texas Tech football team should replace De’Quan Bowman as the team’s primary punt returner after yet another shaky and near disastrous performance this week.

Blowout victories have a way of masking warts that might otherwise be the focus had a game been a closer affair.  Such is the case with the risky and at times near-disastrous play of punt returner De’Quan Bowman who should lose his role as the team’s kick returner following two more ill-advised decisions versus Kansas.

The senior is a former JUCO All-American kick returner who has been the Red Raiders’ primary kickoff returner and the only player to return a punt this season.  But it is time that he be removed from both of those jobs before his risky decisions wind up costing his team dearly.

Time and time again this year, the New Jersey native has put his team in a negative position because of unnecessary risks or careless mistakes.  He was guilty of both in Saturday’s win over Kansas.

In the first quarter, Bowman fielded a punt inside the Red Raider 10-yard-line.  As he attempted to outrun that mistake, he retreated five yards while running laterally before being tackled at the three-yard-line.

That decision set the offense up with awful field position and would lead to points for Kansas.  Two plays later, Red Raider inside receiver Zach Austin was stripped of the ball allowing KU to take over at the Tech two-yard-line.  That possession would end in a Kansas field goal but had Bowman not forced the offense to start in the shadow of its own goalpost, it is likely that Kansas would not have come away with any points on the exchange.

Later, Bowman would make another foolish decision on a second punt return.  After fielding a punt at the Tech 31, Bowman lost eleven yards as he once again tried to evade a wave of Jayhawk defenders in an attempt to pull off the spectacular.

This mistake almost cost the Red Raiders even more points after Kansas recovered an Alan Bowman fumble at the Tech 10-yard-line on the ensuring possession.  Only a Douglas Coleman interception in the end zone kept this De’Quan Bowman blunder from again leading directly to KU points.

Because these plays came in a 38-point win, they are not likely to receive too much scrutiny.  But in a game against an underdog like KU, such unwise plays can keep the less talented team in the game or even lead to an upset.

Perhaps had these been Bowman’s only mistakes as a returner this year, we could overlook them but he has repeatedly been a liability on special teams.  In the season’s first game, he fielded Ole Miss’ first kickoff of the game while running along the goal line as his momentum carried him towards the sideline.

He was able to muster only a 10-yard return putting the Red Raiders in terrible position for their first offensive drive of the season.  That possession would end in a touchdown but it is an example of the type of decision-making problems Bowman has exhibited far too often this year.

The Texas tech offense has proven to be arguably the most dynamic in the country so there is no need for Bowman to take risks as a kick returner.  He should instead be more concerned with simply securing the ball and getting it back to the offense in decent field position.

But his caviler and risky returns cost the team field position and at times, possession of the football as he did when he lost a muffed punt against Houston.  That gaffe cost the Red Raiders possession in a 21-21 game during which Tech struggled to come up with stops in the first half.  Houston scored on the next play to take a 28-21 lead keeping the underdogs in the lead and helping them reestablish momentum.

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To be fair, Bowman has proven to be a dynamic returner at times.  This week, he returned a punt 17 yards and a kickoff 42 yards.  He is second in the Big 12 in punt return average and third in kickoff return average.

But again, Texas Tech does not need a hero in the punt return game to score points.  They need a kick returner who is going to ensure that every punt return ends with Tech still in possession of the football and that every kickoff return sets the offense up at least at the 25-yard-line.

It is time for the Red Raiders and special teams coach Adam Scheier to find a more reliable option to return kicks.  Perhaps a two-returner system should be employed with a steady returner fielding the majority of the punts and Bowman returning punts when the opponent is kicking from deep in its own territory.  That would allow for the possibility of Bowman flipping the field while limiting the risk of a blunder deep in Tech territory.

As the schedule enters what could be a season-defining stretch against Iowa State, Oklahoma and Texas, it should be expected that every possession will be crucial and every mistake magnified.  That means, Texas Tech should no longer continue flirting with disaster by trusting De’Quan Bowman to be its primary kick returner.