Texas Tech football: 5 best individual performances of 2019

Douglas Coleman vs. Arizona

If there was one game against a Power 5 opponent this year in which we can say the Red Raider defense carried the offense, it was in week three at Arizona.  That night, the Red Raiders dropped a 28-14 game that they led 14-13 in the 4th quarter but it wasn’t because of the defense, which held an explosive Wildcat offense in check until it wore down on a hot night in the desert.

This game is where the team’s lack of depth on the defensive line was exposed for the first time as the Wildcats ran the ball on every play in three-consecutive 4th-quarter drives, one of them being a 99-yarder, to score two touchdowns and run out the final clock.

But prior to that, safety Douglas Coleman had a fantastic game.  In fact, this was when his 2019 season took off.  In Tucson, Coleman came up with 10 solo tackles and picked off two passes as the Red Raider defense kept the game close despite the fact that the offense was stuck in neutral for most of the evening.

In the first quarter of a scoreless game, Arizona QB Khalil Tate badly overthrew his intended receiver in the middle of the field allowing Coleman to come up with a nice diving interception.  On the play, the Arizona receiver was bracketed by Thomas Leggett and Coleman so he simply stopped running his route assuming that the ball wasn’t headed his way.  Therefore, Coleman was able to come up with the play at the Tech 25-yard-line.

This was the first turnover of the year for the Red Raider defense despite tons of offseason bluster from the new coaching staff about generating takeaways.  Prior to the game, Matt Wells had said that the turnovers would eventually come in bunches and later in the first half, Coleman proved his coach right.

With 18 seconds to go in the second quarter, Coleman stepped in front of a receiver who was cutting towards the sidelines and picked off another pass at the Arizona 40-yard-line.  Unfortunately, this play was dampened by the fact that he was assessed a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty by referee Mike Defee following the play to take Tech out of scoring range.

In this game, both of Coleman’s interceptions went for naught because neither led to points, something that was a problem all year for the Red Raiders.  On the drive after his first pick, Alan Bowman was intercepted in the endzone and after his second pick, Tech did not have time to score.

Against Arizona, the turnovers did, in fact, come in bunches as Wells said they would.  But the problem was that of the three takeaways his team had, only a fumble recovery by Jordyn Brooks turned into points.  Still, Coleman’s showing with two interceptions and 10 tackles was a great jumpstart for the senior who would finish the year with eight interceptions, which is tied with three other seasons as the second-most prolific year in program history in terms of picking off passes.