Texas Tech football: Turning points that cost Tech in loss to Zona

Tech does not score on 2nd quarter possession deep into AZ territory after Wells makes a strange decision

By the time the Red Raiders took over possession of the ball at the 8:35 mark of the second quarter, it was already looking like points were going to be tougher to come by than most expected.  What’s more, the Red Raiders had just been victimized by an 84-yard Khalil Tate TD run to put the Wildcats up 13-7.

But Tech’s offense put together one of its better drives of the game and looked poised to respond with a score of its own.  The Red Raiders got all the way down to the Arizona 22 where they faced a 3rd-and-3.

Seeing that the 6-foot-6 Vasher had one-on-one coverage with a smaller corner, Bowman tried to hit his big-play receiver for a score.  But his attempted fade route was so poorly thrown that it sailed five yards out of bounds and landed closer to a photographer than anyone on the field of play.

On 4th down, Wells made his own mistake by calling for a fake field goal.  The call itself was questionable because of how well freshman kicker Trey Wolff has kicked thus far (he’s 2-2 on FG attempts and 13-13 on extra-point tries).

But equally as questionable was the design of the play which had holder Mark Richardson, a sophomore receiver from Allen, try to run into the middle of the Arizona line.  Of course, he was blown up in the backfield and Tech was kept off the board.

This felt like a moment when the momentum of the game could have swung in Tech’s favor by quelling the home team’s success with an emphatic TD drive.  With Tate’s huge run sparking his team on the previous series, Tech needed at least three points to help stem the tide and given the struggles Wells had seen his offense have in the first half, he should have taken the field goal attempt.

What’s more, when points are at stake, there are about 50 players on the roster Tech fans would rather have the ball in the hands of than a walk-on receiver with no career stats to his name. It was a terrible decision and an even more dreadful play design.  And because Tech did not score when getting deep into Wildcat territory, the maligned Arizona defense received another boost of confidence and pride.