Texas Tech football: Why WVU game is the most important of the season

5 of 5

Sep 14, 2019; Morgantown, WV, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers head coach Neal Brown on the sidelines during the second quarter against the North Carolina State Wolfpack at Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports /

Wells needs to keep beating Brown

Last offseason was unprecedented in the Big 12. That’s because a third of the league’s programs changed head coaches meaning that all four men are likely to be measured against each other for as long as they are employed by their current schools.

But while Tech never considered Les Miles before he took the Kansas job or Chris Klieman before he landed at Kansas State, it is believed that West Virginia’s Neal Brown was at least on AD Kirby Hocutt’s radar. That and the fact that Brown was Tech’s offensive coordinator from 2010-12 under Tommy Tuberville are why Wells and Brown will be compared against one another for as long as both are in the Big 12.

More from Wreck'Em Red

So far, Wells is 1-0 in this head-to-head matchup. That makes Brown the only one of the three coaches that joined him in the class of 2019 against which he has a winning record.

Granted, it’s been just one year. But make no mistake, Tech needs to get back to a place where beating West Virginia is common and 2019 was a great start, especially since it ended a significant Mountaineer winning streak in this series.

In 2012-13, the Red Raiders won the first two Big 12 editions of this new conference rivalry. But after that, the Mountaineers went on a five-game winning streak before Tech finally put an end to their Morgantown mystery last season.

These are two programs that are going to continue to jockey for position in the crowded middle class of the Big 12 behind Oklahoma and Texas for the foreseeable future. But what’s different about this series is that these programs don’t meet all that often on the recruiting trail given their lack of geographic proximity so wins over WVU might not be as important as beating an in-state rival.

Still, when it comes to public perception and their respective standings in the Big 12, Wells vs. Brown will always be a coaching matchup that causes the ears of Red Raider fans to perk up. That’s because there was a significant portion of the fan base in Raiderland that wanted Neal Brown instead of Matt Wells so it would behoove the current Red Raider head coach to prove that Hocutt’s decision was the right one. If he can’t, the howls for Wells to lose his job are only going to increase as will fan apathy and cynicism.

Beating West Virginia won’t fix all that is wrong with Texas Tech football. But what it would do is stop the bleeding that has been a problem for the entire 2020 season.

Remember that Tech is just one two-point win over FCS opponent Houston Baptist from being winless on the season. They are one of only two teams in the conference that are winless in Big 12 play and being in the same boat as Kansas is never what a football program aims to be.

The best Red Raider from every year of the Big 12. light. Related Story

So make no mistake, this is a huge game for the Red Raiders. In fact, it feels like it could be the point where this season starts to stabilize or it could be where things go completely off the rails. It also feels like where Matt Wells can finally make a stand and for at least one week and calm the fan base’s frustration with the job he is doing in Lubbock. If that doesn’t happen, the back half of 2020 could be a rather ugly ride.

Home/Texas Tech Football