Texas Tech football: Why turnovers are not paying off for Red Raiders in 2019

Tech records first interception of Jalen Hurts this season

To compete with the Sooners in Norman this year, Tech would have likely needed ten takeaways.  Of course, that didn’t happen and by the time Coleman intercepted OU’s Jalen Hurts in the third quarter of the 55-16 Sooner victory, Tech was already trailing by 31 points.

At the 11:13 mark of the third, Hurts delivered a high pass down the middle of the field that his receiver tipped to Coleman.  The Red Raider safety took the ball back to the OU 38 but again, a penalty on the return pushed Tech back to its own side of the 50.  It was the first interception Hurts had thrown this year.

This was the play on which Red Raider defensive end Eli Howard had the inexcusable low blow to the knee of OU running back Kennedy Brooks.  Howard was flagged and Brooks left the game permanently but thankfully he did not miss any other games.

You will see that this team gets flagged quite often on interception returns.  Most of the time, it is because of illegal blocks, such as this one.

Wells and Patterson have talked openly about how they coach their team to take turnovers back all the way, something they had great success with at Utah State.  Part of their philosophy is that they insist that their defensive players become active blockers during returns.

That’s fine but remember that defensive players don’t practice blocking.  They aren’t taught what is a proper block and what will draw a flag.  Often, when defensive players block on a return, they are simply head-hunting and that’s going to draw a flag, especially in the open field during a return.

There is a fine line between blocking aggressively during a turnover return and drawing a penalty that will set the team back significantly.  That’s still something this defense is learning.

On the ensuing posses, Tech drove to the OU 18 before settling for a field goal to make the score 41-13.  This turnover proved to be insignificant in the scope of this game but it did give us some insight into how this program can improve in regards to turnovers.  The defense needs to be taught not only that they must block during returns but that they must do so within the framework of the rules.