Texas Tech football: What Alan Bowman has to prove in 2020

He can win close games

Last season was particularly frustrating for Texas Tech football fans because of all the close losses we had to endure.  Tech lost by three points to Baylor in double-OT, lost to TCU by two points, and lost to Kansas State and Kansas by three points each.

In each of those games, the offense had opportunities to win the game late but came up short.  Bowman is going to have to come up big in similar situations for next season to be different.

But so far, that’s not something he’s done.  In fact, he’s played in no games that came down to the wire.  In fact, in the nine career games that he played without leaving due to injury, the average margin was 28.8 points per game.

The only time he has been in a game that was close late in the second half came at Iowa State in 2018.  In the 40-31 loss, Bowman was ineffective as he threw three picks and completed just 57.1% of his passes.

Close games are a way of life in college football, especially for a team like Texas Tech which doesn’t have enough talent to overwhelm most of the teams on the schedule.  In the last three years, the Red Raiders have lost nine games that were decided by one score while winning just three.

While not all of those defeats fall only on the shoulders of Tech’s QB play, the fact is that Tech’s QBs haven’t been good enough to carry the team to wins, only good enough to keep them close.  Bowman needs to change that narrative this season.