I wanted to apologize to you all for missing the awards post last week. My wife’s grandmother passed away and we had the funeral and family things to attend to. I did watch the game and rather than share a snarky post I just passed for the week. Welp, this one was worse, and I’m here to affirm how you feel.
The Way We All Feel Award
Red Raider Nation
That was a disaster. The Red Raiders haven’t been held from scoring an offensive touchdown since, well, since last season against TCU. Yeah, that feels bad too. Jett Duffey was bad my friends. Once again, you would have won that game if not for horrible drive-killing turnovers, including another in the red zone. Duffey went 19/27 for 150 yards and an interception in the red zone. He also had 2 fumbles, 1 of which he lost. McClane Carter came in late in the game and went 0/3 (all of which were almost picked off) and although the fumble was charged to the team I’m giving it to Carter who dropped his first snap of the game. Tech quarterbacks were sacked 4 times and hurried twice. Astoundingly, 41 of Kansas State’s 47 tackles were solo. The entire Texas Tech team was ineffective throughout the day with Clayton Hatfield’s 2/2 on field goals one of the only bright spots. Adrian Frye also snagged a one-handed interception in the end zone, which ultimately meant nothing because on the ensuing drive Jett Duffey fumbled the ball on a sack giving it right back. The Red Raiders once again allowed a safety, this time on a blocked punt.
This was on par with the most infuriating games I’ve ever watched, including in the Tommy Tuberville era. The Red Raiders looked lost, unprepared, uninspired, and overall left the field with almost nothing to be proud of. In a season in which the Texas Tech faithful were trying hard to give Kliff Kingsbury a chance, with the fourth conference loss in a row his seat has once again lit on fire.
Oh No, Is This Really Going to Happen? Award
Red Raider Nation
No one WANTS Kliff Kingsbury fired. I know, you just did a spit take. What I mean is coach firings really suck. They split fan bases, they completely dominate the news cycle locally and suck up all the oxygen from every other sport that deserves it. Fans also pin all hopes and dreams on new coaches and ADs end up going out there, throwing logic to the wind and hiring whoever is the hot name they can stretch to afford. The pendulum also swings all-to-often as well and an offensive team hires a defensive coach, a young fired coach is replaced by a veteran coach, a big personality is replaced by a total snoozer, etc. That doesn’t mean it automatically succeeds or fails, but it means the splits in the fan base grow wider and loyalties are chosen. Now I don’t think there’s a ton of loyalty left for Kliff, he’ll always be the player of my undergrad era and I love the wins and memories he gave us. But his team is losing games it’s supposed to win and we’re in year six, and we’re in the midst of another demoralizing late-season slide.
I should add the caveat that I have an exceptional amount of faith in Kirby Hocutt and his ability to judge character, ability, and weigh all of the other roles of a new head coach. Kirby has proven himself to be an excellent athletic director and having someone like him at Texas Tech not only raises the notoriety of the department and university, but it opens up new coaching conversations that otherwise may not have been because coaches will want to come work for him
I wasn’t intending to talk about a potential Kliff exit, but watching the game tonight I found myself feeling really disillusioned. The patheticism (ya like that?) of this team is impressive at this point. I mean seriously, you have to try to lose this badly to a bad team. The Red Raiders are vastly more talented and capable than the Wildcats. I’m just out of excuses at this point. I know you’d have won if you got ANYTHING out of your quarterbacks, or anything out of your defense, but when do those things become the responsibility of the head coach? When will Texas Tech become a team that can absorb an injury and still compete? When will Texas Tech be a team that can handle a quarterback having a bad game and still win? Why doe the Red Raiders feel like the only team that requires every circumstance to play out perfectly to win?
None of us have answers to those questions, unfortunately. I think the fan base has been patient, we’ve been understanding of growing pains, there are just simply no more excuses to make.
Yeah, that’s it, no more awards, nothing to see here. What else could we possibly celebrate?
Wreck ‘Em.