Texas Tech football: Red Raiders can’t overcome mistakes at Kansas State
The Texas Tech football program’s losing streak to Kansas State has now reached seven games after a 37-28 loss to the Wildcats on Saturday. Here are some rapid reactions to what we saw in Manhattan.
Always behind
For the second time in three games, Texas Tech never led in a football game. That was true of the 27-14 loss to NC State and it was true of this loss to KSU.
What’s more, Tech spent virtually all afternoon trailing Texas last weekend. That means that for the past three games, Tech has been behind by double-digits for the vast majority of the time.
Saturday, Tech fell behind KSU 13-0 but was able to get the game tied at 20-20 in the second half. However, this time Joey McGuire’s team couldn’t figure out a way to complete the comeback.
That’s no way to operate when you are relying on a sophomore QB who has less than a season’s worth of starting experience. Certainly, the slow starts are something that the Red Raiders must figure out in a hurry.
Gashed on the ground
Entering Saturday, the Tech run defense had been very good. Averaging just 99.2 yards allowed on the ground per game, the Red Raiders ranked 4th in the Big 12.
That number will change dramatically after Saturday. KSU chewed up a whopping 343 yards on the ground in this one while passing for a mere 116.
Tech failed to do what we discussed pre-game as a key to this game; make KSU QB Adrian Martinez win the game with his arm. Instead, he was allowed to amass 171 yards and 3 TDs with his legs. That’s exactly what KSU wanted to do and Tech had no answer for it.
Next week, Tech will face Oklahoma State and their dual-threat QB, Spencer Sanders, who ran for 75 yards and a TD against Baylor on Saturday. Certainly, the QB run game will be a priority in practice this week.
Smith’s growing pains are hard to stomach
You can’t pin this entire loss on QB Donovan Smith but he was far from at his best. His final stats were more than acceptable (34/48 passing for 359 yards and two TDs) but many of those yards came after KSU had put this game to bed.
Smith was again indecisive in the pocket and he was far from accurate, even when he did get the ball out on time. What’s more, he was picked off twice bringing his season total to seven.
Certainly, we must afford him some growing pains as he is being baptized by fire. But that maturation process is difficult to watch at times.
Smith has yet to win consecutive starts in his career and it seems as if the mental side of the position still troubles him, especially against zone coverages. Again, Smith wasn’t why Tech lost this game but he sure didn’t play well enough to keep the Red Raiders in a game in which the defense needed to be bailed out by the offense.
Price Check
Texas Tech football fans are holding our collective breath until we find out the severity of Myles Price’s apparent leg injury. Rolled up on while blocking, Price left the game and was tended to on the sidelines in the second half and would not return.
It is scary to think about what this offense would look like without Price. He leads the Red Raiders in receptions and receiving yards and is tied for tops with two touchdown grabs.
This is an offense desperately needing some explosiveness and Price is one of the few players that appears capable of providing that. He’s also as close as Tech has to a security blanket for Smith.
In Price’s absence, Xavier White stepped up. He finished the day with 120 yards and a TD on 9 catches. However, that doesn’t mean that the Red Raiders can afford a long-term injury to Price.
Turnovers piling up
Until this team stops giving the ball away, every Saturday is going to be a struggle. The Red Raiders committed four more giveaways on Saturday to bring the season’s total to 12. Prior to Saturday, Tech ranked 97th nationally in turnovers lost and that ranking is only going to fall further towards the bottom after another awful turnover showing by the offense.
However, let’s not let the defense off the hook here either. This year, Tech has yet to reach defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter’s goal of three takeaways in a game. Tech had only one against KSU meaning that this team will spend another week as the worst in the Big 12 in turnover margin. For a team with such a small margin of error as Tech has this year, that’s no way to have success.