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Texas Tech football: Recent plays that were gut-punches to Red Raider fans

By Matthew Conner

AMES, IA - NOVEMBER 19: Head coach Kliff Kingsbury of the Texas Tech Red Raiders looks down during a timeout in play against the Iowa State Cyclones in the first half of play at Jack Trice Stadium on November 19, 2016 in Ames, Iowa. (Photo by David Purdy/Getty Images)
AMES, IA - NOVEMBER 19: Head coach Kliff Kingsbury of the Texas Tech Red Raiders looks down during a timeout in play against the Iowa State Cyclones in the first half of play at Jack Trice Stadium on November 19, 2016 in Ames, Iowa. (Photo by David Purdy/Getty Images) /
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LUBBOCK, TX – OCTOBER 11: Josh Lambert #86 of the West Virginia Mountaineers lines up his game-winning field goal against the Texas Tech Red Raiderson October 11, 2014 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. West Virginia won the 37-34. (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images)
LUBBOCK, TX – OCTOBER 11: Josh Lambert #86 of the West Virginia Mountaineers lines up his game-winning field goal against the Texas Tech Red Raiderson October 11, 2014 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. West Virginia won the 37-34. (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images) /

West Virginia’s 55-yard last-second FG in 2014

Let 2014 be a lesson ladies and gentlemen.  Just because a team is bringing back a sophomore QB that had a stellar first season, there’s no guarantee of success.

In Kliff Kingsbury’s second season, sophomore QB Davis Webb was considered by some a dark horse Heisman Trophy Candidate to begin the year.  But after a season of inconsistency play and injuries, he would finish the season second on the depth chart behind Pat Mahomes as the Red Raiders managed to go just 4-8.

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One of the most difficult losses to swallow that season came at home to West Virginia when Mountaineer kicker Josh Lambert hit a 55-yard field goal as time expired for a 37-34 win.  To make matters worse, one of Tech’s traditional home field advantages dissipated at the worst possible time.

All day, the wind had been blowing steadily out of the North, which figured to make such a kick impossible.  But just as WVU lined up for the kick, the winds died down noticeably allowing Lambert to get enough leg on the kick.

This is not folk lore.  I was there.  Having spent my entire life in Eastern New Mexico and West Texas, I am always taking the winds into consideration at Jones Stadium and I remember looking at the flags right before the kick and being frustrated at how the winds had calmed.

Believe me or not about the winds, the fact that this kick was devastating to the program is no understatement.  That’s because this loss came in the middle of a terrible, chaotic and negative time for the program.

Following week-three’s 49-28 loss to Arkansas, Tech had to abruptly part ways with defensive coordinator Matt Wallersteadt for unspecified off-field reasons.  That sent the Red Raider defense, and the team in general, into a tail spin that saw Tech drop seven of eight games.  In fact, only a mid season win over lowly Kansas kept the Red Raiders from the longest losing streak of the “Air Raid” era of the program.

The West Virginia loss was the fourth-consecutive of the season but it was the best game the Red Raiders had played in over a month.  And coming the week prior to the Kanas game, it could have provided the team an opportunity to string together two wins and perhaps get its wheels back on.

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But instead of gritting out a key win, Tech could not put away WVU despite being 27-13 late in the third quarter.  And as has become Texas Tech’s luck, a career 75% kicker nailed the longest kick of his career to put another scar on the hearts of Red Raider fans.  It would have been nice if those famous Lubbock winds wouldn’t have given him an assist.

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