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Texas Tech football: Statistical goals to aim for against the Longhorns

By Matthew Conner

LUBBOCK, TX - OCTOBER 10: A Texas Tech Red Raider player holds a helmet before the game against the Iowa State Cyclones on October 10, 2015 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. Texas Tech won the game 66-31. (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images)
LUBBOCK, TX - OCTOBER 10: A Texas Tech Red Raider player holds a helmet before the game against the Iowa State Cyclones on October 10, 2015 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. Texas Tech won the game 66-31. (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images) /
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Texas Tech Red Rainders mascot the Masked Rider leads the team onto the field before the college football game against the TCU Horned Frogs on November 16, 2019 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
Texas Tech Red Rainders mascot the Masked Rider leads the team onto the field before the college football game against the TCU Horned Frogs on November 16, 2019 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images) /

When the Texas Tech football team takes on the No. 8 Texas Longhorns on Saturday, achieving these statistical goals would make an upset possible.

Texas Tech needs a win over a top-10 team in the worst of ways.  After all, it’s been since 2012 that the Red Raiders have managed such an accomplishment.

That day, QB Seth Doege passed for 499  yards and 6 TDs in a 49-14 drubbing of No. 5 West Virginia.  Tight end Jace Amaro was also dominant in that one as he caught 5 passes for 156 yards and a score.

But since then, Tech has failed to pull off another top-10 stunner.  But it’s for a lack of opportunities.

Since then, the Red Raiders have gone 0-8 against top 10 teams.  Unfortunately, most of those games have proven to be lopsided.  But there have been some close calls, games in which Tech could have pulled off the upset had they made one or two more plays.

In 2014, true freshman QB Patrick Mahomes put a scare into No. 7 Baylor as he threw for 598 yards and 6 TDs.  However, he and his teammates couldn’t execute a late 2-point conversion attempt allowing the Bears to escape with a 48-46 win.

The next season, No. 3 TCU pulled off the most miraculous of wins in Lubbock scoring a last-minute TD on a tipped pass to win 55-52.  That game was Tech’s best opportunity since 2012 to secure a top-10 win as the Red Raiders were one 4th-and-goal stop away from knocking off the Frogs.

In 2018, the Red Raiders lost a 51-46 shootout to the No. 7 Oklahoma Sooners.  That night, many believe Tech would have won had QB Alan Bowman not left the game at halftime with a collapsed lung.  In fact, he had led his team to a 31-28 lead at the intermission.

Now, it feels like this weekend’s game against the Horns is a massive litmus test for the Matt Wells regime.  Having yet to secure a win that truly resonates with the fan base and coming off of a 4-8 debut season, there is little doubt that the arrow is pointed in the wrong direction for the head coach, especially after week one’s abysmal showing against Houston Baptist.

But nothing can more quickly turn the tide of public opinion in a coach’s favor than securing a win over the Longhorns.  Picking up a victory on Saturday would be monumental for Wells and it might set the stage for a resurgent 2020 season.

However, taking down UT won’t be easy.  It will require Tech to play a much better game than we saw in week one and even then, the breaks will likely have to fall the way of the home team.  It would also greatly help the Red Raiders’ cause if they could achieve the following statistical goals.

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