Texas Tech football: 5 plays that defined 2019 for the Red Raiders

No. 4: Douglas’ Coleman’s brain fart at Kansas

If the Big 12’s highway robbery in Waco is a play we aren’t soon to let go, Douglas Coleman’s brain fart in Lawrence against Kansas is the play from 2019 we’d most like to forget.  That’s because his attempt to lateral a recovered blocked field goal try was pounced on by Kansas allowing the Jayhawks another try to win the game, which they converted for a 37-34 win.

In many ways, it was a fitting way for this nightmarish game to end.  After all, losing to lowly Kansas for the first time since 2001 should only come as a result of an unforgettable moment.

Don’t forget that Coleman played this game on a bum ankle and it is fair to think that he knew he couldn’t score on the recovery because he simply didn’t have the wheels.  Thus, he tried to lateral the ball.

That is no excuse though.  He simply can’t do that as a senior captain and the best player in the secondary.

It put a damper on what was a stellar year in which he was the Big 12 leader with 8 interceptions, one of which came on the first play of this game.  In fact, Tech jumped out to a 17-0 lead in the middle of the 2nd quarter so this game should never have come down to a Kansas kick at the end of the game.

But it did and KU still attempted to Jayhawk this game away as only the football team in Lawrence can do.  Unfortunately, Coleman said, “Hold my Gatorade and watch this.  I’ll show you what a real brain fart looks like.”

If Coleman just falls on the ball, Tech goes to OT and you had to like their chances of winning the game, though, given the failings of the 2019 team in critical moments, we can’t make any assumptions.  Still, believing that they would have found a way to get this fish in the boat and had the Big 12 not cut their line when another fish was on the hook in Waco, it is frustrating to think just how close this season was to being considered a success.  Texas Tech University: Where close is possible!