| * Recap * Box Score * Quotes |
1. I Stopped After the First Half. This was a game that I didn’t think that Texas Tech would win, so I’m not completely upset about that. I probably should be. I thought it would be closer, but an interception, a failed 4th down, another interception, giving Oklahoma incredibly short fields to score just sort of ended it. Personally, I don’t know that the interceptions are something that I put on Colombi necessarily, they hit both receivers in the body, one was slightly behind a receiver. Regardless, this was one of those snowballs that turned into an avalanche quickly.
I knew the score before I started watching (I did family things planned for Halloween night) so I knew that Oklahoma would score 21 points in the first quarter and the 27 in the second, that this wasn’t a game that really needed a ton of hot-takes.
2. Bad Day for the Defense. The defense gave up 559 total yards, 213 running the ball and 346 in the air. And if we count the pass interference penalties, 11 for 85 total yards (not all were on defense) then it’s 600 or so yards. The defense gave up 7.3 yards a play. I don’t need to do the math for you to tell you how terrible that is. Not only that, but the defense didn’t turn the ball over so Oklahoma pretty much had free reign over the defense for the entire game and although I didn’t watch the second half, maybe Lincoln Riley let up off the pedal.
3. Offense was not Productive Either. If you want to get hit in the gut, run the ball for a loss of 1 on 3rd and 11. That’s what happened in the second quarter as Texas Tech was trying to stop the bleeding In fact, Texas Tech would get a first down on that drive, Colombi would try to go deep to Ezukanma (which I fine with), but then on 2nd and 10, Brooks would lose a yard and then on third down would lose another. Those weren’t really the fault of Brooks, but that’s not even giving your team a chance on third down.
4. Offensive Line Struggled. This was probably the biggest thing on offense for me, which is that the offensive line would create occasional lanes to run, but generally speaking, they were pretty well out-matched against Oklahoma’s defensive line. I definitely underestimated that, although I knew that Oklahoma was putting significant pressure on opponents and noted that in the preview, but probably not a big enough deal. Regardless, this was a humbling game for the offensive line (As an aside, when people use the term “humble” incorrectly, you should let them know. In this instance, the offensive line was humbled, i.e. decisively defeated. Being “humbled” is not ever a compliment or a good thing.) and they were pushed around well. Colombi never had a chance.
5. Colombi Isn’t Made for a Shootout. This isn’t intended to be a dig at Henry Colombi, but I don’t think he’s made to keep pace in a shootout sort of game. That’s not his strength, which I think his strengths are moving the chains, taking bits of yards. Colombi doesn’t have a big arm and the big chunk plays aren’t his thing. He’s not going to make a play out to the sideline, he just doesn’t have the arm strength to do that. Colombi was snakebit when the inside receivers couldn’t catch a couple of passes that hit them in the numbers (they were some heat, but I think you still have to catch those) and the normally inside receivers were only targeted 5 times the entire game.
So basically, after getting picked, Yost took that part of the playbook out of the entire game plan and went outside the entire game.
And outside of the long pass to Koontz that was a nice play as well as pitch and catch, Colombi averaged 5.6 yards an attempt. That’s pretty bad. Again, Colombi was under fire all game long it seemed, so I don’t know that another quarterback would have done much better.
6. Stats. Some key stats if you want to bang your head against the wall. Oklahoma converted 57% of their 3rd downs, 8 of 14, with their average 3rd down being only 5.5 yards and averaging 10.9 yards when they did convert. Compared to Texas Tech, only converting 36%, 4 of 11, and needed 8.3 yards on third down (a good indication that the first 2 plays were crap) and gained 3.7 yards when they were converted. All 4 conversions for Texas Tech were running the ball, none were passing.
After a great week in terms of penalties, Texas Tech had 11 for 85, most of them seemed defensive. Some pass interference, facemasks, etc. And of course, for whatever reason, the refs threw on a penalty against Matt Wells for arguing something in the first quarter and being on the field. I’m pretty sure that coaches being on the field happens all of the time, but we didn’t get a replay as to that.
Oklahoma was 9 for 9 when they got into the red zone. Ugh.
Oklahoma had 17 points off of turnovers, all of which were in the first half.
Oklahoma had a 36 to 23 advantage in terms of time of possession.
7. Quotes.
Q: Why do you think you have not performed well against Oklahoma?
“That is a fair question. We have to close the talent gap in terms of recruiting and development. We are focusing on tonight. Right out of the gate, we had more penalties than we have had all year. Some of those were administrative, which is a lack of concentration or a lack of discipline. I’ll say this, halfway through the season, that is not like us. We were the least penalized team in the Big 12 coming into the game. You put that with drops, we haven’t dropped the ball this year. I think that’s correctable. Before you win a game, you have to not beat yourself. Beating yourself with penalties and drops is not the recipe to move the ball on offense.”
Q: What were you unhappy about when you received that 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and what was the explanation you got?
“That was my fault for being on the field. I shouldn’t have been out there. It’s uncalled for and it’s my fault. I own that. I was upset at the lack of calls for d-line movement and stimming.”
Kinda funny that the question that Kyle answered earlier this week about not returning kickoffs is being asked.
Q: What is your philosophy on fair catching vs. taking it out on kick returns?
“We were going to bring it out because we liked what we had in terms of the kickoff, but it’s a fair question. We have to be able to catch a kickoff return and squeeze the ball. Alex has been through ball security drills. Miles Price is in them every day. That has not been an issue for us; it was tonight. It’s something we need to address. Taking care of the football is of upmost priority. We do it every day. I know we’ve been really good at it. Dropping the ball and penalties – we let two roll out on us on kickoff return – it’s something we have to be better at.”
Q: What was the defense lacking after those turnovers?
“That was the name of the game all night. We couldn’t get pressure on Rattler and let guys get open in the back in. As the game went on, we were very poor against the run. A sudden change like that, we need to respond better. You’ve got to come in and try to force field goals. Reality is with two of them, they were already in the red zone. The third one was right there around the 50-yard line. Obviously, on offense we were putting the defense in bad field position.”
8. Injuries and Guys Out. Just keeping track of this is a full time job. Apparently McLane Mannix did go through pre-game stretches did participate. KeSean Carter and Chadarius Townsend also returned, but Xavier White did not. Tony Bradford, Jr. was injured someway before the game. LB Krishon Merriweather, WR T.J. Vasher, and DT Nick McCann were all out for the game.
9. Clearly a Terrible Game. This was clearly a bad result. The offense and defense played terribly. The turnovers were killers and the game was over in the second quarter. I’m not making excuses or anything like that, but I’m also not going to be the guy that goes into terrible coaching rumors or innuendos. Whatever. We all see the result, and after last week, it was a good result. This week . . . not so much. Be better next week. And if Art Briles is hired as the head coach, this will become a basketball and baseball exclusive blog. Promise.
10. Up Next. Speaking of next week, Texas Tech will travel to their second home of Ft. Worth and take on TCU, the game will be on FS1 and kickoff is at 2:30 p.m. No more staying up until midnight to watch a game.