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Texas Tech football: KSU game not must win for Matt Wells, but it’s close

By Matthew Conner

LUBBOCK, TEXAS - SEPTEMBER 26: Cornerback Zech McPhearson #8, head coach Matt Wells, and linebacker Riko Jeffers #6 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders prepare to lead the Red Raiders onto the field before the college football game against the Texas Longhorns on September 26, 2020 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
LUBBOCK, TEXAS - SEPTEMBER 26: Cornerback Zech McPhearson #8, head coach Matt Wells, and linebacker Riko Jeffers #6 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders prepare to lead the Red Raiders onto the field before the college football game against the Texas Longhorns on September 26, 2020 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images) /
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When the Texas Tech football team takes on Kansas State this weekend, it won’t be a must-win for Matt Wells but it is as close as he’s come to one in his time in Lubbock.

Almost every coach, regardless of the sport, will try to convince everyone from their players to their fans to themselves that the next game on the schedule is the most important.  While the sentiment is understandable, the reality is that not all games are created equal.

Some are supposed to be mere tune-ups, some bring to town a program that no one cares about (we’re talking about you Kansas), and some are rivalry games that elicit the strongest of emotions.

This weekend’s game against Kansas State fits into none of those categories.  But make no mistake, it isn’t just another game for Matt Wells.  Rather, it looks and smells almost like a must-win contest for a head coach who continues to see his popularity within the fan base plummet along with the interest in his program.

First, there is the fact that the last time we saw Wells’ team, it was blowing a 15-point lead in the final three minutes of the game against Texas.  What’s more, many fans blame Wells for that loss, specifically pointing to his decision to try a “sky kick” in the fourth quarter as the moment when the Longhorn comeback began.

There’s nothing that anyone can do about that collapse now but beating the Wildcats would be a refreshing response from a program that has in recent years been all too willing to let one gut-wrenching loss carry over to the next game.

For instance, after last year’s farce in Waco when Big 12 officiating robbed the Red Raiders of a huge road win, Wells’ team came home and slept walked its way through the first half of the Iowa State game as Tech fell behind 20-0 by the middle of the second quarter.

If that happens again this weekend, it will be a damning statement about where Texas Tech football is under the current coaching regime.  What’s more, a loss would send this season spiraling towards disaster.

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Keep in mind that next weekend, the Red Raiders have to play Iowa State in Ames, and in three weekends, No. 18 Oklahoma pays a visit to Lubbock.  In between, West Virginia will come to Jones Stadium in a game that Tech will by no means be guaranteed to win.

In other words, a loss to Kansas State may set Tech on a path to a 1-4 or even 0-5 start to conference play.  Thus, it would mean another losing season was in store for a program that has had four-straight and a head coach who has had four in his last five years.

On the other hand, a win in Manhattan would reveal within Wells’ program a resilience that has been lacking for the better part of a decade.  And now that the Wildcats are coming off of an improbable upset win over No. 3 Oklahoma in Norman, they are now a much more desirable trophy for other Big 12 teams to hunt.

What’s more, ending Tech’s woes in Manhattan would be a huge boon for Wells.  After all, Tech hasn’t won at Kansas State since 2008.  Even worse, KSU has won eight of the last meetings in this series.  Thus, exorcising those demons would be a great way to start to turn the momentum within the program back in the right direction.

The reason this game isn’t a must-win for Wells is that there would seem to be no conceivable way that he will lose his job this year.  The university won’t want to pay his buyout and, thanks to the unfathomable ride that 2020 has been, there are too many built-in excuses for AD Kirby Hocutt to hide behind should his football program continue to spiral downward.

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But this game does feel like a fork in the road for the Wells regime.  The fan base is already skeptical about his ability to have success in Lubbock and many are simply counting down the days until he is ousted.  But if his team comes up big against the Wildcats, it will give us reason to think that the tide is beginning to turn within a program that has been looking for a resurgence for longer than any of us ever expected.

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