Texas Tech football: 5 plays that defined 2019 for the Red Raiders
No. 2: Baylor picks up 20 yards on 2nd-and-18
We are going to look at two plays from the Baylor game and the second one, you already know. But this game never should have gone to overtime because Tech had more than a few chances to win it in regulation.
Perhaps the best opportunity was on the final drive of the 4th quarter when Tech was up 20-17 and had Baylor backed up to it’s own 1-yard-line with less than 90 seconds to play. Following a huge Eli Howard sack that nearly resulted in a safety, Baylor QB Charlier Brewer connected with RB Trestan Ebner for 20 yards to jumpstart a drive that would eventually push the ball all the way to the shadow of the other goal line before the Bears had to settle for a game-tying field goal.
What makes this play so frustrating to watch again is that it is the classic “third-and-Patterson” failure by the Red Raider defense. As was so often the case this fall, Red Raider DC Keith Patterson put his atrocious pass defense in man coverage in a critical moment so when Ebner came out of the backfield, he had no trouble beating Riko Jeffers to get open.
All game, Patterson’s defense had held Baylor’s passing game in check by using a zone coverage that didn’t let the Bears get deep. But on this drive, Patterson went back to his ill-advised tendencies and went man-coverage while also blitzing Jordyn Brooks to leave the middle of the field as wide open as it was all day.
Adding insult to injury is the fact that this was Ebner’s first touch of the game. He actually had two huge catches on this drive, which isn’t all that surprising given that he was frequently used as a receiver out of the backfield in 2019.
Going into a game against a ranked team on the road, had we been told that the Red Raiders would have a 3-point lead in the final 90 seconds and Baylor would have to go the entire length of the field to score, we would have gladly accepted such a situation. But because the Red Raider defensive coordinator reverted to his awful habits and put a LB on an island against a shifty RB, Baylor was given new life.