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Texas Tech fans enraged at Joey McGuire and O.C. Zach Kittley following meltdown vs. TCU

After seeing their team blow a 31-14 third-quarter lead vs. TCU, Texas Tech football fans are furious at head coach Joey McGuire and O.C. Zach Kittley.
ByMatthew Conner|
Baylor v Texas Tech
Baylor v Texas Tech | John E. Moore III/GettyImages

Any time a team blows a big second-half lead, fans are going to be upset. However, that doesn't begin to describe how many Texas Tech football fans feel after seeing their team cough up a 31-14 late third-quarter lead in Fort Worth Saturday afternoon.

Had the 35-34 loss to TCU been a back-and-forth affair all day and Tech just came up a play short, it would have been disappointing, but it would have been easier to swallow. After all, a huge percentage of Big 12 games are decided by one possession and often come down to one play here or there.

But not only did the Red Raiders gag away a three-score lead in the final 20 minutes or so of this game, but the coaching staff, specifically head coach Joey McGuire and offensive coordinator Zach Kittley, also made one of the most head-scratching decisions in recent Texas Tech football history.

Asking true freshman QB Will Hammond to carry the ball through the middle of the TCU defense on the final drive of the game was about as brain-dead of a decision as Kittley and McGuire could have made. That's especially true given that standing next to Hammond in the backfield was All-Big 12 running back Tahj Brooks.

Kittley deserves blame for asking Hammond to do something he isn't accustomed to doing, carry the ball in traffic against an aggressive defensive front. After all, it was Hammond's first meaningful action of his college career and he isn't accustomed to taking punishment from Big 12 defenses.

Meanwhile, McGuire deserves the blame for deciding that as Tech had reached the TCU 27, it was time for the offense to take its foot off the gas. That's because the potential game-winning field he was setting up his team for would have been in the range of 45 yards, which is no chip shot. Also, kicking the field goal with around 1:30 left in the game would have given TCU plenty of time to answer with their quick-strike offense.

Any way you look at it, McGuire and Kittley deserve the lion's share of the blame for Tech's latest loss. And on Saturday night, Texas Tech football fans took to social media to throw stones at the two most unpopular men in the program.