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Texas Tech football: Offense is not coming through in big moments

By Matthew Conner

LUBBOCK, TEXAS - OCTOBER 05: Wide receiver Erik Ezukanma #84 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders catches a pass during the second half of the college football game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys on October 05, 2019 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
LUBBOCK, TEXAS - OCTOBER 05: Wide receiver Erik Ezukanma #84 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders catches a pass during the second half of the college football game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys on October 05, 2019 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images)
(Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images) /

Second OT possession at Baylor

Another time that it was obvious that the Red Raider defense had run out of gas was towards the end of the game in Waco.  In the 33-30 Baylor win in double-OT, the Bears found their offensive groove in the second half and managed to drive the ball 97 yards in the final 1:30 to kick the game-winning field goal.

But Tech had its chances in overtime.  Of course, we all will forever remember the complete screw-job the Big 12 referees gave the Red Raiders in the first overtime when a Baylor fumble was ruled to be an illegal snap that the recovery by Tech was reversed.

However, Tech should have been able to score a TD in the second OT period to keep the pressure on the home team.

Nope.

Instead, the offense managed just a field goal and that proved to be the difference in the game.

The drive got off to an awful start and then ended on a questionable play call.  On first down, SaRodorick Thompson was swarmed in the backfield for a 4-yard loss.

Second down saw Jett Duffey simply throw the ball away when his receiver, McLane Mannix, was covered downfield.  So on 3rd-and-14, Tech decided to…run a draw to Thompson?

To his credit, the redshirt freshman RB managed to pick up about 13 yards but why Tech was even running the ball in that situation is hard to understand.  Perhaps Duffey audibled into that run (though the video doesn’t seem to show any change of the play at the line) or maybe Tech thought that they were going to be able to catch Baylor off guard.

It was more likely that the coaches were playing for a field goal in this situation to at least get points.  A former coach in Lubbock used to say that “fortune favors the bold” and in this case, Tech wasn’t bold and that cost them.  Of course, that former coach got fired so what does he know?  Right?

Were this not overtime, one could understand the logic of this call because on 4th-and-short in a regular game situation, it would have made sense to go for it.  But in OT when points are a necessity, there was no chance Tech was going to go for it on 4th down being as this was the first drive of the second OT, meaning Baylor still had its possession upcoming.  And no one thought that the Tech defense was going to put up any resistance.

Of course, on that possession, the Bears ran right through the Red Raider defense, which was a shell of what it had been for most of the game.  That’s why when Tech’s drive resulted in three points and not seven, doom was on the horizon.

The only shot Tech had at winning this game in OT was to just keep scoring touchdowns.  But in the second OT, it couldn’t do that and what would have been the season’s best win slipped right through the Red Raiders’ fingers.

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