Texas Tech football: Takeaways from Matt Wells’ comments after Baylor loss

Here are some thoughts about what Texas Tech football head coach Matt Wells had to say following his team’s 33-30 OT loss to Baylor on Saturday.

Saturday was yet another frustrating chapter of Texas Tech football in the decade since the end of the program’s glory days.  A winnable game against No. 22 Baylor slipped through the hands of Matt Well’s team in a 33-30 double-OT loss in Waco as the program continued its recent trend of moral victories, something that has been all-too-common since the Mike Leach era.

The team had an opportunity to knock off ranked teams in consecutive weeks for the first time in seven years but could not slam the door on the final drive of regulation.  Now, Tech had to regroup after losing three of its last four games because a tough test awaits this weekend when Iowa State comes calling.

Early in his remarks, Wells pointed out the team’s biggest problem scoring in the red zone.

"“We have to play better in the red zone,” he said. “We need to come away with touchdowns.”"

That is an understatement.  Tech reached at least the Baylor 21 six times and only came away with 13 points.  That was because of two field goals, a Jett Duffey interception, a SaRodorick Thompson fumble, and a failed 4th-down conversion.

For some reason, no one in the media asked him about his decision to gamble on 4th down at the Baylor 17 in the middle of the 3rd quarter with Tech down just 17-13.  It was not a wise decision and many Red Raider fans would love to have heard him explain his thought process in taking points off the board when it was not necessary.

Wells spent the longest time focused on the controversial penalty assessed to Baylor for an illegal snap in OT.  The play was not whistled dead on the snap, which was fumbled and recovered by Tech, but then the officials decided to rule the play an illegal snap, thus keeping the ball with the Bears.

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"“Not much of one.” Wells said when asked if he received an explanation from the officials.  “And I can’t wait to get one from the league as we get going and I know I have to be real professional here, but I can’t wait to see and hear. I have already seen it to be honest with you, so there is going to have to be a lot of explanation. I think a lot of people have seen it walking on the way in here. I was told it was an illegal snap and I am going to leave it at that.”"

This is as edgy as we have seen Wells when discussing anything in a press conference.  It is refreshing to many Red Raider fans to see their head coach mirror their own frustration with this blown call that could have changed the outcome of the game.

Though the loss was tough to swallow, Red Raider fans have to bee encouraged by the play of some young players as well as Jett Duffey, who is not young but was making just his 5th career start.  Wells echoed that sentiment and seemed especially proud of the final Texas Tech drive of regulation to take a 20-17 lead.

"“To take that drive at the end, with the crowd and the noise and Jett, it was precision,” he said. “They threw and caught the ball. SaRodorick Thompson picked up some blitzes and we made plays all the way down the field to send the thing into overtime. Really proud of our guys.”"

Moving forward, Wells said that it will be incumbent on his seniors to get his team ready for another Big 12 test at home against an Iowa State team picked to finish 3rd in the Big 12 this year.

"“Again, new in this program and culture is how do you handle success,” he said.  …”how do you handle defeat, and this will be a new challenge, emotional defeat right at the end of the game. But I am confident that it is not just our staff, but our seniors are going to have to do it. Those three seniors on defense, Broderick [Washington], Doug [Coleman], Jordyn [Brooks], Donta Thompson on offense, big emotional leaders, those guys have to get us going again and I expect us to get right back off the mat and learn from this and get right back to work on Monday.”"

All of the players he mentioned above played well on Saturday.  Douglas Coleman and Jordyn Brooks each had 8 tackles to lead the team and Coleman picked off his sixth pass of the year.

Washington had five tackles, a sack, and a QB pressure as he continues to be one of the most disruptive forces in the Big 12.  Meanwhile, Donta Thompson caught two passes for 24 yards, with one grab going for 19 yards.

"“That is going to be part of this first year, building this culture and how do we grind every single week and I got no question sitting here today coming off this game that our guys will do it again on Monday,” Wells concluded."

Building a culture is often a difficult process for fans to endure because it usually means there will be plenty of bumps in the road just like we saw in Waco.  But the way Tech has played in the last two games has looked and felt different than what we’ve grown accustomed to seeing from this program in recent years.

This team plays with a toughness and a relentlessness that was once a hallmark of Red Raider football but which has been lost over the last decade.  Hopefully, that new culture begins to translate into more than just moral victories starting Saturday at home against the Cyclones.