Texas Tech football: Position groups that will be improved in 2020

QB

There are times when you need your QB to limit mistakes and keep you in games and there are times when you need him to make plays to win games.   While Jett Duffey was able to do the former most often in 2019, he rarely did the later.  If Alan Bowman can, the QB position will be an area of improvement in 2020.

For most of the year, we graded Duffey on a curve.  Because of what we saw from him in his three starts in 2018, (numerous turnovers, dangerous plays, critical lapses in judgment) our expectations were rather low.

Thus, when he showed an ability to cut down on his mistakes and keep his team within striking distance on an almost weekly basis, we were willing to overlook his late-game shortcomings.  In fairness, not all of Tech’s inability to win close contests was on Duffey.

But against Kansas, Baylor, and TCU, Duffey had at least one drive in the fourth quarter when a TD would have won the game or put his team ahead late and he failed to deliver.  (And before you point out that the last possession against TCU ended with a Mannix fumble, keep in mind that on the previous Tech drive, which came with the Frogs ahead by two points, Tech went three-and-out.)

We don’t know if Alan Bowman will be able to deliver in those moments because we’ve not seen him cast in such situations yet in his career.  But I suspect that his grasp of the offense and ability to execute more of the playbook than Duffey will allow him to have more success when the game is on the line.

This year, if Bowman can prove to be capable of winning games for Tech rather than just not losing them, he will represent a solid step forward at the most important spot on the field.  That would obviously make the Red Raiders a much better team.