Texas Tech football: Turning points that cost Tech in loss to Zona
In the Texas Tech football team’s loss to Arizona on Saturday night, a handful of turning points proved fatal for the Red Raiders.
Perhaps the Texas Tech football program should just stop playing in the state of Arizona. That’s because the Red Raiders have lost their last three trips to the Grand Canyon State with Saturday’s 28-14 defeat at the hands of the Wildcats being the lastest in a run of frustrating and damaging results in the desert.
Of course, making this outcome so much more devastating than simply a mark in the loss column is the loss of starting QB Alan Bowman for several weeks. The sophomore sustained a shoulder injury on the first drive of the third quarter when he was hit by a blitzing linebacker. Though he was able to finish the game without missing any snaps, he is not going to be available until November at the earliest.
But this is far from the first or most costly injury a Red Raider has suffered in Arizona. Back in 1999, the Red Raiders opened their season against Arizona State in Tempe and as was the case Saturday night, the team’s offensive star did not survive the game unscathed.
In Tech’s 31-13 loss, star running back Ricky Williams sprained a knee in the first quarter and though he would try to come back a few weeks later, he missed the remainder of the season after aggravating the injury in practice.
Just as we saw Saturday night, Tech jumped out to a 7-0 lead against the Sun Devils twenty years ago but when Williams went down, the team’s fight went with it. ASU ran off 31-straight points before Tech picked up a garbage-time TD in the 4th when Aaron Hunt returned a fumble 53 yards.
Williams’ injury was a debilitating blow for a player that many were touting as a potential Heisman Trophy candidate after a 1,582-yard, 13-touchdown season in 1998. His injury left the team in shock and led to a 1-2 start which included an embarrassing 21-14 loss to North Texas in the home opener. Of course, a week after the largest upset in the history of college football to that point, Tech sprung its own massive upset by taking down No. 5 Texas A&M 21-19.
In 2017 Tech did not sustain any catastrophic injuries in its return to Tempe. What was hurt most in that game was the team’s dignity in a 68-55 loss to the Sun Devils.
That night, Tech allowed ASU running back Kalen Ballage to score eight touchdowns to tie the NCAA single-game record. In all, the Red Raider defense allowed 652 yards, 188 of those belonging to Ballage.
It was one of the most embarrassing defensive performances of the Kliff Kingsbury era, which is quite a statement. Unfortunately, Tech wasted a brilliant showing by QB Pat Mahomes (583 total yards, five TD passes, 1 TD rush) as was so often the case during his brief but brilliant stint as the program’s starter.
While that game was more damaging to Tech’s reputation (as well as that of its head coach), this year’s loss to Arizona could have long-lasting implications on the 2019 season beyond the Bowman injury. By failing to pick up a third non-conference win, Tech must find a way to win four Big 12 games to reach a bowl, something the program has accomplished only three times this decade.
Red Raider fans are not only frustrated by the loss of Bowman for over half of the remaining schedule, the second-straight year we will not see a full season with him at the helm, but we are frustrated by the fact that this was yet another winnable game that the program failed to bring home. As we look at the turning points in this game, it will become clear just where Tech’s missed opportunities were and how those moments turned the game in Arizona’s favor.