Texas Tech football: Why turnovers are not paying off for Red Raiders in 2019
Tech forces three turnovers by Arizona but scores only seven points
Entering the third game of the year at Arizona, the story was that the Red Raiders had yet to come up with a turnover despite playing two teams to open the season in UTEP and Montana State that it dominated in all other facets of the game. But that night in the desert, Douglas Coleman picked off two passes and Jordyn Brooks recovered a Khalil Tate fumble, all in the first half of the 28-14 Wildcat win.
In the first quarter, Coleman stepped in front of a Tate pass to set his team up at the Tech 35 yard line with an opportunity to break a scoreless tie. That didn’t happen because on the ensuing possession, Alan Bowman threw an interception of his own when he threw a fade route to T.J. Vasher, who ran a stop route. Prior to that, the Red Raiders had moved down to the Arizona 30 in seven plays and were looking like they had finally found their offensive rhythm.
Three possessions later, the game was still scoreless as the home team took over on the Red Raider 48 after another Bowman pick. But on the drive’s first play, Tate fumbled and Brooks pounced on the ball at Tech’s own 49. Six plays later, SaRodorick Thompson found the endzone from a yard out and Tech was up 7-0.
To end the first half, Tech could have possibly put more points on the board after Coleman picked off Tate again. But instead of starting this drive at the Wildcat 40, Tech was pushed back to its own 45 after Coleman was assessed a personal foul for taunting. At that point, the Red Raiders did not have time to get into scoring position as there were just 43 seconds remaining in the half.
The two factors that kept Wells’ team from converting two of its three takeaways into points were two issues this team has had all year…communication and discipline. Because Bowman and Vasher were not on the same page and because Coleman could not act the way a senior and team captain should, Tech missed out on two golden opportunities to put more points on the board in a game during which that endeavor proved to be tough for the Red Raiders.