Texas Tech football: Red Raider fans aiming criticism at wrong coordinator

How the offense and defense stack up nationally

Which coach deserves more criticism?  One who is coordinating the No. 17 unit in the nation or the No. 109-ranked unit?  According to Tech fans, it would seem like the former is more to blame for this team’s struggles.

Having to start three different quarterbacks and relying on his third-string QB for more starts than his first-stringer, Yost has guided his offense to a No. 17 national ranking in total offense and a No. 59 showing in scoring offense.

Those numbers are not up to Tech’s normal standards but are more than good enough to win football games consistently.   Given the fact that his roster doesn’t matchup up with what he wants to do schematically and that he’s been down some key contributors, Yost has coaxed way more out of his offense than Patterson has out of his defense.

Though you wouldn’t know it by listening to fans, Yost has overseen some significant improvement in a couple of key areas.  First, Tech is up from an 87% success rate in red zone scoring to a conversion rate of over 90% this year (though too many of those scores are field goals).

Though 3% might not look impressive on the surface, given how important points are in the Big 12, that’s a significant increase.   And don’t forget the fact that that number would be a few points higher had Wells not called two ill-fated fake field goals and had to go for it on a number of desperation 4th downs in the red zone in other games.

Also, the offense is running for about 35 more yards per game, something that has been missing from this program’s offensive approach for too long.  Last year, Tech finished 108th in rushing offense; this year it sits at No. 66.

Conversely, the Tech defense is just 109th in the nation in yards allowed with 451.7 which is one spot lower than it finished in 2018 and three yards more per game than last year’s defense gave up.  And what’s more, Patterson’s troops are just 75th nationally in scoring defense (though that is better than 2018 when Tech finished 86th).

This isn’t to say that Patterson has been a disaster.  His defense has shown signs of life at times.  But it is odd to me that fans are placing so much blame on Yosts’ offense, which is putting up the 17th-most yards in the nation with a depleted roster while Patterson’s defense is still in the bottom-third of the nation.

Though fans seem to have taken issue with the way Yost approached last week’s loss to Iowa State, the results of his offense compare favorably with what Kingsbury’s offenses did in the last three years against ISU. From 2016-18, Tech averaged 18 points, 335 yards, and 4.3 yards per play against the Cyclones.  Saturday, Yost’s offense scored 24 points, amassed 407 yards, and averaged 4.7 yards per play.

That’s not good enough but it also doesn’t warrant a public flogging as so many fans seem to want.  Meanwhile, Patterson is avoiding critique from most fans despite allowing 560 yards, the most ISU has scored against Tech since 2016.  And his side of the ball has far more to work with.