Volleyball

Recap | Texas Tech Downed at Iowa Statehttps://t.co/kPjeEnedgu #WreckEm pic.twitter.com/oUkMSdhZYU

— TexasTech Volleyball (@TTUVball) October 15, 2016

Track & Field

Texas Tech XC with a strong finish this morning in Santa Clara… on to the Big 12 Championships #WreckEm #TTUXC https://t.co/cS7zp8wTkj

— TTU Track & Field/XC (@TTU_TF_XC) October 15, 2016

Football

 LAJ’s Don Williams writes about who the Mountaineers backed up their pre-game comments about shutting down the Texas Tech offense and holding Texas Tech to 10 points:

I asked Mahomes if there’s any throw he lacks the comfort or the confidence to make, and he said, “No. Going through warm-ups and going through pre-game, I feel fine throwing posts and comebacks and stuff like that. We’ve got to run better routes, and I’ve got to get the ball there. I take a lot of blame for not making the right reads today, and it showed up on the field.”

If you take Patrick at his word, and I’m inclined to, then you’re left with this: The pass protection gave him little support on Saturday, but it’s not all on them, nor on the shoulder. He lapses back into sloppy mechanics. Scrambling forever. Not setting his feet. Throwing on the run from crazy angles. The kind of thing commentators gush over when it works against Stephen F. Austin and Louisiana Tech doesn’t work when a Big 12 defense takes away the windows.

LAJ’s Nicholas Talbot writes about how head coach Kliff Kingsbury has a right to be angry after the loss to West Virginia:

Saturday was just one giant ball of mistakes.

A fourth-and-1 at West Virginia’s 24-yard line? A snap infraction, loss of 5 yards and then an errant pass after Tech quarterback Patrick Mahomes II was pressured.

A third-and-10 at the Mountaineer 13? Justin Stockton bobbled a pass and Sean Walters tore it away from him as they fell to the ground — interception.

A 7-yard rush by Mahomes to the West Virginia 30? Personal foul Terence Steele, followed by a sack of Mahomes and a loss of 9 yards back to the 47,

A Skyler Howard pass gets shut down for no gain at Tech’s 23-yard line? Personal foul, Payton Hendrix.

Also from LAJ’s Talbot, Texas Tech knows they have to be significantly better as Oklahoma is rolling through town:

“Fuel for the fire I think that is a good way of putting (what we need to do with this loss),” Stice said. “It is embarrassing I apologize to the entire Texas Tech fan base for the performance we put forward. But we will get back to work this next week and continue to increase our preparation for next week and whatever their role is everyone needs to improve it to help this tam be successful in the second half of the season.”

After the poor performance, Tech quarterback Patrick Mahomes II said everyone’s job should be up for grabs — including his.

“I mean, we’re going to go in, look at everything. Coaches will look at everything. I mean, a lot of spots will be up for grabs, including myself. I’m going to have to go out there and play. Nick’s out there playing hard,” he said. “I’ve just got to bring it at practice and come ready, because Oklahoma’s a great team. They have a great defense. I think I threw four interceptions last year, and they have a good scheme too, so we’re going to have to be better.”

 In yesterday’s Ten Things post, someone screen-capped an LAJ’s Don Williams article about Kliff Kingsbury’s buyout and the actual numbers (rather than me guessing) and after this year, it’s only $9.4 million, $6.775 million after 2017 and $4 million after 2018. Don does come to the same conclusion as me, which is that a buyout isn’t real likely until 2018, but also mentions something I had forgotten about. The athletic department has $111 million in athletic debt and an annual debt service payment of $12 million, which is second highest in the Big 12. I think the payoffs are much more palatable than what I originally thought, but the debt service is something that’s a real problem. In other words, a booster would most likely have to come up with the full payoff amount.

Oh, and someone was asking about possible replacements, which is heresy at this point, but has anyone thrown out the name Lincoln Riley? I think that Sonny Dykes would run back to Texas Tech, but not sure about that as they’re sitting 3-3 as well.

 Miscellaneous . . . LAJ’s Michael LaBarre has how the committed players for Texas Tech did this week . . .