Texas Tech football: Red Raiders can’t settle for 3 in the red zone in 2020

In 2020, the Texas Tech football team must finish more red zone drives with seven points instead of three, something that was problematic in 2019.

Last season, Texas Tech’s redshirt freshman kicker Trey Wolff hit 20 of 22 FG attempts, the second-most made FGs in a season in Red Raider history. While his accuracy was a plus and an unexpected surprise, the fact that he had to be called upon to rescue so many failed drives was one of the reasons Tech struggled to a 4-8 record.

In all, 17 of his made kicks came on drives that reached the opponent’s red zone. Those are drives that every coach and fan alike expect to end with seven points, not three.

What’s more, you could attribute half of last season’s losses to red-zone failings. That was most especially true of 2019’s most maddening loss.

We will never forget the way the Big 12 officials robbed the Red Raiders of a critical fumble recovery in overtime when Tech fell to Baylor 36-33. But what many people have forgotten about that game is the fact that Tech was awful in the red zone.

The Red Raiders penetrated the BU 20-yard-line four times in regulation. They came away with just 13 points, including a pair of Wolff field goals. Thus, they left more than enough points on the field to win the game before the bungled OT call.

Adding to that day’s woes was a drive that wasn’t technically a red-zone opportunity. In the fourth quarter with Tech down 17-13, Jett Duffey took a snap at the BU 21 and promptly threw a pick to rob the Red Raiders of an opportunity to put more points on the board.

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In all, Tech could have had 35 points on those five possessions, which would have been more than enough to win the game. But by leaving 22 points on the field, Tech had to go to OT where anything can happen, as we learned in the most infuriating of manners.

But that wasn’t the only time red-zone shortcomings cost Tech a win. In fact, they showed back up in another frustrating loss.

When Tech fell to Kansas 37-34, it was the mental gaffe by Douglas Coleman, who tried to lateral the ball to a teammate following a blocked KU FG, that will go down as the most memorable moment of the game. But had Tech not settled for a pair of red-zone field goals that night in Lawrence, the Jayhawks wouldn’t have been in a position to even attempt the game-winning kick at the end of regulation.

Tech also had a late-game failure in its 33-31 loss to TCU in November. That afternoon in Lubbock, McLane Mannix fumbled on the Raiders’ final drive allowing TCU to recover and seal the win. But prior to that play, Tech had managed just 13 points on three red-zone trips including two FGs.

A week later, Tech dropped a 30-27 decision to Kansas State. That night, the home team had only two red-zone drives resulting in 13 points. That might not seem too atrocious but leaving four points on the board when they had to settle for a Wolff FG early in the fourth quarter would eventually prove to be costly.

At first glance, the 2019 Red Raiders appeared to be a good red-zone team. Scoring on 88.2% of their opportunities, they ranked 36th nationally in red-zone success. However, of their 51 possessions, only 28 ended with seven points, that’s just 54.9%.

This year, the red zone has to be more fruitful for the Red Raiders. Settling for three points is no way to win close games in the Big 12 and being as all but one game on this year’s schedule will be against conference foes, Tech will have even less room for error inside the 20 than they did last year. Hopefully, we see far more sevens than threes this time around.