Texas Tech football: Hidden moments in the loss to Kansas State

Nov 9, 2019; Madison, WI, USA; A penalty flag sits on the field during the game between the Iowa Hawkeyes and Wisconsin Badgers at Camp Randall Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

A drive-killing 4th-down penalty

Our final hidden moment comes to us on Tech’s second-to-last drive of the game. After rallying to take a 21-17 lead earlier in the 4th quarter, Tech found itself down 24-21 with 5:32 to play when they got the ball back.

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At the 4:18 mark, Tech had the ball at the 50 need three yards on 4th down to keep the drive going. Wells gambled by leaving his offense on the field and it initially appeared to have paid off as Colombi scrambled for five yards.

But the gain was wiped out by a holding call on left tackle Ethan Carde. As a result, Tech would punt and give the ball back to KSU, which would score the game-clinching TD on the ensuing possession.

In all honestly, this was a penalty that was not obvious. Carde did not grab the defensive end nor did he take him to the ground. Rather, the play looked strange because the end got into Carde’s body and tried a spin move, which put Carde’s hands in an awkward position.

The result was that the defensive end spun around on his way to the QB giving the appearance that he’d been grabbed by Carde. I’ve seen far more egregious infractions go uncalled. But the spin did give Colombi a lane to run through and the play happened right in front of the official who dropped the flag so it isn’t surprising that it was called.

Carde and right tackle Josh Burger have struggled at times this year and Saturday was no exception. While they are giving the offense a chance to succeed, they are also finding it difficult to play a clean game as it seems like each week, Tech has multiple penalties on the tackles. That was true against KSU and this call on Carde essentially ended any chance Tech had of pulling this game out.