Texas Tech football: Did quiet game hurt Wesley’s Biletnikoff chances?

After a quiet game in the Texas Tech football team’s 21-6 loss at Kansas State, did Antoine Wesley’s Biletnikoff Award chances take a hit?

The MVP for this year’s Texas Tech football team is has been Antoine Wesley, the junior wide receiver who is starting for the first time in his career. But this week, the Red Raiders’ biggest weapon had his worst performance thus far catching six passes for just 28 yards.

All afternoon, the passing game struggled to find any success facing a disciplined KSU defense that received quite a bit of assistance from the elements. No receiver had more than the 69 yards T.J. Vasher managed to grind out and it was just the second time this year (and the first time since the week-one loss to Ole Miss) that Wesley was not the Red Raiders’ leading receiver in a game.

The only time that Tech took a deep shot with Vasher was on the first possession of the second half. With Tech trailing 10-6 and facing a second-and-nine at their own 12, Wesley was able to get a step on two KSU defenders deep down field but Jett Duffey’s pass was overthrown by at least two yards.

Other than that, everything Wesley did against the Wildcats came in the form of quick outs and bubble screens and he was unable to make one of his usual game-breaking plays. Now, it is fair to wonder if this performance hurt his chances of bringing home the Biletnikoff Award, given to the nation’s best receiver.

So far, Antoine Wesley has put up 1,375 yards and nine touchdowns on 84 receptions. He ranks second in the nation in total yards and yards per game and is tied for fourth in catches. But to see where he stands when it comes to the Biletnikoff, let’s see what the other candidates for the award have done and whether they have had any games like Wesley had Saturday.

There are ten other players still up for the prestigious award, which has been awarded to only one other Texas Tech receiver, Michael Crabtree in both 2007 and 2008. And a look at the other candidates reveals that every one of them has turned in at least one very underwhelming game.

Stanford’s JJ Arcega-Whiteside had just one reception for 11 yards against Washington and he’s put up six games under 100 yards this year, including three games under 50 yards. With just 48 catches for 754 yards in total, the senior does not figure to be a serious candidate for the award.

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Marquise Brown from OU is the only player up for the Biletnikoff that was shut out in a game that he appeared in this year. Amazingly, he had no catches vs. Army in OU’s overtime win. What’s more, he also has a clunker against Kansas State on his resumé catching two passes for 22 yards against the Wildcats.

Ole Miss wide receiver A.J. Brown may be the first receiver drafted next year but he had a dud against Alabama catching just four balls for 34 yards. Certainly, the Crimson Tide defense is unbelievable but when playing the best team in the nation, Brown missed an opportunity to make a huge statement to Biletnikoff voters.

N’Keal Harry from Arizona State caught just 5 balls for 20 yards against Washington earlier this season. Red Raider fans likely remember him from last year when he had 13 grabs for 148 yards and a touchdown in Lubbock. But this year, he has 7 games under 100 yards which could hurt his chances of winning the award.

Andy Isabella of UMASS may be one of the biggest threats to Wesley. He leads the nation in both receptions (102) and yards (1,698). But his 4-reception 42-yard game vs. Florida International was nothing to be proud of and the fact that he has faced only one Power 5 team may hurt him. Although against that team, Georgia none-the-less, he was amazing with 15 catches for 219 yards and two touchdowns.

Jerry Jeudy of Alabama may be the most physically gifted wide receiver in the nation and is likely to be the next great Crimson Tide WR in the NFL. But his worst game, 6 grabs for 45 yards against Miss State, was not appreciably better than Wesley’s game against KSU. What’s more, he has 373 fewer yards than Wesley on the year because Bama prefers to run the ball and because the Tide blows out every opponent. Jeudy is crucial to the nation’s top team despite the fact that he does not have to put up video game numbers to make his presence known but his lack of eye-popping stats may keep him from the Biletnikoff.

Rondale Moore at Purdue had a game of 3 catches for 16 yards against Eastern Michigan. Similarly, Hawaii’s John Urusua had 5 grabs for 30 yards against Wyoming. While he does have 16 touchdowns on the year to lead the nation, he also plays in a non Power 5 conference and has not faced off against a major conference opponent.

A Big 12 receiver with almost identical stats to Wesley is Tylan Wallace of Oklahoma State. This year, he has only four games under 100 yards receiving and he has put up 1,344 yards and 11 touchdowns. Still he had just 4 grabs for 48 yards in week-one vs. Missouri State. But Wallace has been on a tear recently with two 200-yard games in his last four making him a serious Biletnikoff condentder.

What we can see is that Antoine Wesley did not lost the Biletnikoff award this week. It was his first poor game of the year and if the voters take time to watch the game, they will see that the quarterback play and the weather had more to do with his meager stats than his play did.

However, if he wants to win the award, he will likely have to have a huge game against Baylor in the season finale. Doing so will make him a serious contender to bring home an award that virtually no one thought he would even be in consideration for when the season began.