Texas Tech football: Turning points that doomed Red Raiders in Lawrence

A holding penalty takes away a kickoff return for TD

All year, the Texas Tech special teams have been far more solid than either the offense or the defense.  But Saturday, a couple of critical moments from the third side of the ball did the Red Raiders in.

Of course, Douglas Coleman’s gaffe on the blocked kick at the end of regulation will go down in program infamy but another special team’s blunder hurt the Red Raiders at the end of the first half.

After jumping out to a 17-0 lead, Tech allowed KU back into the game with 14 unanswered points in the second quarter.  But following the home team’s second TD of the game, Tech’s Ta’Zhawn Henry returned the ensuing kickoff for an apparent 91-yard touchdown.

However, a holding call against senior tight end Donta Thompson nullified the play.  Instead of a 10-point lead thanks to a game-changing special teams play, Tech was pushed back to its own 11-yard-line with only 44 seconds to play in the half.

Not only did the penalty take seven points off the board, it took 15 seconds for Henry to return the kickoff and that time is, by rule, not restored after a penalty.  Thus, Tech had no shot of scoring on the final drive of the half.

Set to receive the second half kick, Tech could have taken back control of the game by scoring at the end of the first half and to begin the second.  The penalty by Thompson prevented that from happening.

Though the Red Raiders did find the endzone to open the 3rd quarter, Jett Duffey’s 19-yard TD pass to T.J. Vasher pushed the lead to just ten points, a margin that was nothing for KU to overcome given how easily the Jayhawks moved the ball through the air.

Kick return scores have been few and far between for this program since the days of Jakeem Grant in the early part of this decade.   Just when it looked like the first Red Raider kickoff return for a score since Keke Coutee opened the 2017 game against Baylor with a 92-yard TD, one of those pesky yellow flags prevented Tech from taking back the momentum heading into the locker room.