Travis: Well, that turned out to be an awfully rude kick in the belly. It was such an impressive game up until the very end when we allowed them to drive 99 yards and tie the game and then to lose it in overtime like that was just awful. I haven’t been that mad after a game in a long time (probably UT in 06). I’m not usually one to blame the refs, but that was just awful. I sent out a tweet with a similar message but I just don’t understand when you’re part of such a large business where coaches and their families lives can be upended on an annual basis that you don’t have a means to correct a mistake so glaring. It’s just an awful way to lose a game.

On the plus side, I think I’m really starting to like Wells. I really liked it when he jumped on the DC for calling a timeout on Baylor’s last drive (even though the timeout worked because we got a sack). And again, I’ll preface this with our standard verbiage that this isn’t a knock against Kingsbury (who seems to be doing well in the NFL now with a rookie QB and an awful defense) but I love seeing the passion on the sidelines and how involved he is in all aspects of the game. This might be shaping up to be another home run hire for Kirby and I love the progress the team is making on the field. So I’m assuming you and I are on essentially the same page with my brilliant post-game analysis (I see I used the word “awful,” three times in the lede paragraph)?

Seth: Yeah, I think we are on the same page. I’d echo pretty much everything that you wrote with the caveat that one of the things that Wells was maybe dinged for while at Utah State was that he lost too many close games and so I’m just sort of tucking this away as something to watch. Read Bill Connelly when he was looking at coaching overachievers and Wells was 7-16 in one-possession games (you have to scroll to almost near the bottom of the post).

Connelly’s other thought was that Wells was putting his team in the position to win, so maybe at Utah State there were perhaps some ancillary reasons he lost one-possession games that he can get corrected while at Texas Tech. I definitely get the feeling that Wells is absolutely pushing the team to go all-out each and every play. Again, this has nothing to do with Kingsbury, but I thought the effort was absolutely there and maybe the team was just gassed by the end of the game, which maybe explains the Arizona and Baylor games. Maybe if there’s another offseason to really implement what he wants to do, the results will eventually pay off.

This past weekend was our family pictures. I don’t know if you and your family do this, but every October or November, we do family pictures, usually for the Christmas card, but it’s one of the things that my wife absolutely stresses about and it’s really sort of known that I need to NOT wear the same thing that I would normally wear in this situation. So I basically have to buy a new outfit. Back when I was in college, a new outfit was essentially a new shirt and tie if I was looking nice and as I’ve become all growned-up, I have to really step up my game. I’m also in charge of making sure the boys have decent looking footwear, which is sometimes a problem. By the way, Youssouf is 8 and is wearing a men’s 8.5 shoe. No lie. Fitsum is more human and has age-appropriate sized feet. I ended up totally surprising my wife and I bought a new blue-jean jacket, that I look absolutely fantastic wearing. My wife was a big fan, paired it with some khaki pants, a grey/gray t-shirt and some casual comfortable tennis shoes. I’m not a boots guy (never have been one and probably never will be one).

Please tell me you do family pictures and you have to do essentially the same thing (if not enthrall me with a terrific story that will keep the readers’ attention).

Travis: One piece of advice I’d offer Wells is that he might need to be a bit more aggressive in the Big12. That field goal on 4th in two in the 2nd overtime was a death knell. He should’ve gone for it there. And he probably should’ve gone for two in the first overtime. In the Big12 I think you have to be more aggressive on occasion to keep up with the offenses and to keep the defense off guard. That was always one of Leach’s advantages in that he went for it on 4th down so often that defenses couldn’t scheme against a 3rd and long because often times it didn’t matter. He was going to go for it on 4th down. I’m not asking for Wells to mimic that exactly but I think it would help him if he’d gamble a little bit more.

We don’t do the family portrait thing very often. We had family photos made 6 years ago I think. The funny thing about that picture (and it’s still hanging in our stairwell) is my wife had the idea that we’d all dress in jeans and nice shirts but she wanted us all to be barefoot. And my bare feet aren’t bad but I just couldn’t get comfortable with the idea. So there we are- she’s barefoot holding Cash and I’m holding a barefooted Cade and Claire is standing next to me, barefoot. Then there’s me- long sleeve blue shirt, nice jeans and big ol’ brown shoes. I just couldn’t do it.

So where do you stand on “baby on board,” signs in cars? I mean I see them and I think, “oh be careful, there’s a baby in that car,” but then the more I think about it the more ridiculous it becomes. Because it’s not like I’m driving around, slamming into cars all day that don’t have a baby on board. I’m a pretty careful driver around all cars, baby on board or not. Then the more I think about it the madder I get because who are you to tell me I have to be super-duper careful because you have a baby on board? You don’t think I’m being super-duper careful with all of the cars on the road? How dare you judge me without even knowing me and tell me I have to be extra careful when I approach your car because you have a dang baby. What if I have a baby on board? Then what?

I don’t know man, maybe if we didn’t give preferential treatment to babies we’d be in a better place right now. Am I wrong about this?

Seth: I don’t like being barefoot. We’ve already discussed this. Even just in the house, I’d rather have a pair of shoes on so to take a picture for the entire world to see? Yeah, I’m wearing some sneaks.

I’m pretty oblivious to the stuff on cars, but I stand with you. Preferential treatment to babies while driving is totally unnecessary. I do wonder about guys that play really loud music with the bass thumping or perhaps a really poppin’ Luke Bryan tune, do they turn down the tunes for the baby? I’m guessing that they just have to pretend that they don’t see the baby on board warning and they can’t lose their street cred by turning down the music, but then internally, are they feeling a bit guilty about possibly waking up a baby? Am guessing that they probably do not.

Texas Tech now faces Matt Campbell and the fighting Cyclones, a team that Texas Tech has essentially struggled with since Tuberville, so is this the year that Texas Tech breaks the Iowa State curse?

Also, do you have any comment about this tweet?

When Hall and Oates roll up on the scooter with Oates in his platform sandals, you best stand back because some real shit is about to go down. pic.twitter.com/C7W7KVNq0H

— Super 70s Sports (@Super70sSports) October 14, 2019

Travis: Can you imagine Hall and Oates rolling up in their scooter up next to a minivan with a baby on board sticker and just looking over and snickering at them? I bet the dad would lose it after he sees Oates on that white scooter with those platform sandals on. Those musicians are a different breed of cat. I couldn’t pull off that look but I applaud him for having the courage to do it.

And yes, Iowa State has been a thorn in our side for the last decade. Campbell has done a fantastic job up there and he’s one of the few coaches that could consistently shut Kingsbury’s offense down. So I’ll be interested to see if Yost has a few wrinkles that lead to more success. I’d imagine it’s probably gonna be a low scoring game, but after the last few weeks I really like Tech’s chances. Hopefully there’s a lot of pent up anger after the way they lost in Waco last week and they come out and take it to Iowa State. Throw caution to the wind, pin your ears back and get after ‘em, baby on board or not.

Seth: Fortune favors the bold, especially for Hall & Oates.