Texas Tech football: Why we are all glad the 2019 season is over

After seeing the Texas Tech football team going just 4-8 in 2019, there are plenty of reasons for fans to be glad that this season is over.

Since the last weekend in August, we’ve have 12 Texas Tech football games in the last 14 weeks and only four times did we wake up on Sunday morning happy about what we saw on Saturday.  Though no one expected the 2019 Red Raiders to contend for a Big 12 title in year one of the Matt Wells experiment, we certainly had higher hopes for his debut than 4-8.

After all, we were told by the man himself that this was a “reload, no a rebuild”.  Of course, what was he supposed to say?  Was he supposed to admit that this process was going to take at least two years before we could even think about being relevant in November or that his predecessor left the roster so barren of talent that this team couldn’t field a legitimate two-deep of players that were actually Big 12 caliber?

Rather, Wells had to put on a brave face and spin things in the most positive way.  And when he made those remarks, he likely had no idea how massive of an overhaul his new program would require.

Wells also thought that he was going to have starting QB Alan Bowman on hand for the entire season and that was what his optimism was based on.  But before conference play even began, he was without his starting QB for what would prove to be the remainder of the year.

With the regular season now complete, we can see how Tech measured up nationally in some key areas.  When we do, it will become obvious that this may not even be a rebuild but rather a reclamation project, which in the world of agriculture is the conversion of wasteland into something suitable for cultivation.

First, the more positive of the two sides of the ball.  Despite all the complaints about new offensive coordinator David Yost from Tech fans, the Red Raiders finished 2019 12th in total offense, not bad for a team that had to start its third-string QB for what was essentially nine games (Jett Duffey made eight starts and played all but the first two series against OU after second-stringer Jackson Tyner was pulled for looking like a deer in headlights).

The problem for the offense was that the 474.3 yards it racked up didn’t lead to as many points as it should have.  At 30.5 points per game, Tech ranked just 57th in the nation.

Much of that was due to the fact that in the red zone, where Tech finished tied for 38th nationally with a scoring rate of 88.2%, the Red Raiders scored only 28 touchdowns on 51 possessions.  That’s not how to win close games.

Remember when Yost was hired and everyone assumed that the “Air Raid” era was over?  This year, Tech ranked 7th nationally in pass offense at 342.7 yards per game.  That’s a near miracle given how pedestrian Tech’s receivers proved to be and considering that Tech had its starting QB for only three games.   On the ground, Yost’s was 83rd with 149.6 yards per game, again not an awful output from an RB corp that was banged up for most of the year.

Thus the criticisms of Yost don’t seem to be supported by the stats.  While his play-calling was questionable at times, especially in the red zone, he was still able to field an offense that was among the best in the country statistically.

The other side of the ball…well…that was a disaster.  Defensive coordinator Keith Patterson became just the latest in a long line of DCs to fail to get the Red Raider defense to a competitive level.

Allowing 480 yards per game, the Red Raiders finished 2019 just 125th nationally in total defense.  It was the 6th-straight year that the Tech defense was ranked in the 100s and the fourth time in that span that it ranked in the 120s.

Against the pass, the Red Raiders ranked 128th out of 130 teams by allowing 307.8 yards per game.  On the ground, teams were able to run for 172.5 yards, good for just 81st nationally.  But why would they run when they could just pick up 20 yards through the air at will?

A huge problem was the 3rd down defense, which ranked just 89th overall.  Teams converted at a 41.7% rate this year on third-and-Patterson with a maddening number coming on conversions of 10 yards or more.

All these stats add up to a frustrating season that only served to further send this program into its decade-long tailspin.  We spend all offseason looking towards football season but when it arrives, the Red Raiders’ inability to be competitive causes many fans to disengage by the end of October.

Unfortunately, this proved to be an Old Yeller of a season that needed to be put down for its own good.  That’s why we woke up on Saturday after the year’s final loss to Texas not upset that the Red Raiders failed to win in Austin for the third-straight time but just relieved that we have a nine-month break in which Texas Tech football can’t ruin our weekends.

2019 might have been a year where the new coaching staff was able to build a foundation by instilling a new culture and putting into place the standards and mechanisms that will lead to future success.  Only time will tell.  But from a fan’s perspective, it will be remembered as the final whimper of a year in the worst decade in program history, one that couldn’t have ended soon enough.  So let’s look at some reasons to be happy football season is over.