Wreck'Em Red
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Angry overreactions to Texas Tech football team’s ugly loss at OU

By Matthew Conner

NORMAN, OK - SEPTEMBER 28: Running back Trey Sermon #4 of the Oklahoma Sooners jumps over linebacker Riko Jeffers #6 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders on his way to a touchdown at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on September 28, 2019 in Norman, Oklahoma. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images)
NORMAN, OK - SEPTEMBER 28: Running back Trey Sermon #4 of the Oklahoma Sooners jumps over linebacker Riko Jeffers #6 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders on his way to a touchdown at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on September 28, 2019 in Norman, Oklahoma. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images)
(Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images) /

It may, in fact, be impossible to field a decent defense in Lubbock

Remember a month ago when we all believed that the defense would be able to carry this team?  It’s easy to feel that way after playing two teams that think quality offense means holding on to the ball for three plays and punting.

But after the Texas Tech defense sat at No. 9 in the nation as we headed to the desert in week three, we have seen what this unit truly is.  It is just the latest version of a Red Raider defense that can’t tackle, lacks speed, plays without discipline, and is woefully thin.

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The fact that Wells and defensive coordinator Keith Patterson felt that it was necessary to supplement the defense with three grad transfers, all of which immediately jumped into the starting lineup, should have given us a clue what was in store.  To beef up this program’s biggest weakness, the plan was to bring in castoffs from other programs.  That’s never how great defenses are built.

On top of it all, Patterson is asking his players to do what they aren’t capable of…play a high-risk scheme built on blitzing and man coverage.  But this is just the latest defensive theory that has been as effective as a garden hose in a forest fire.

We’ve tried the bend but don’t break David Gibbs system.  We’ve tried a 3-4 scheme with Matt Wallersteadt.  We’ve tried to copy what TCU was doing by hiring Gary Patterson disciple Chad Glascow.  We’ve tried it so many ways in the last two decades that the only common denominator has been the logo on the helmet.

The reality is that Tech will not be able to play defense until it has legitimate Power 5 talent across the board and in a two-deep rotation at least.  The problem is that top defensive players don’t want to come to Lubbock because in the minds of people across the country Texas Tech defense is synonymous with futility.  Even last year when Tech was the only team in the Big 12 with three preseason All-BIg 12 defensive team members, the Red Raider defense could not finish in the top 100 nationally.

Name the last Red Raider defensive player to be a star in the NFL.   Zach Thomas?   Tech has some rotational players in the league like Kerry Hyder in Dallas but defensive players that view themselves as having an NFL career don’t think that Tech is going to help them reach their dream.

So this Keith Patterson era feels like it’s just going to go the same way the rest of his predecessors’ tenures have.  We will continue to beat our heads against the wall until we just can’t take it anymore and Wells will make a change in a few years when his seat warms up in an attempt to pass the buck.  Then, we’ll bring in a new coordinator with a vastly different approach and the cycle will begin again.

Next. Keith Patterson's track record troubling. dark

But so long as we are the laughing stock of college football defenses and are allowing teams like OU to average 24 yards per pass, we aren’t going to be able to bring top talent to Tech.  And until we bring the top talent to campus, we will be a laughing stock.  In this chicken or egg quandary, all we know for sure is that the Red Raider defense is the chicken…scat.

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