1. Game Links:

Game Recap
Stats
Post Game Notes
Highlights

C-	PASS OFFENSE
Just barely passable and you could easily talk me into a D. I’m going to get into things more over the week, but this offense needs more Kenny Johnson, Micah Hudson, and Malcolm Simmons.
B	RUN OFFENSE
Thank you for J’Koby.
F	PASS DEFENSE
An absolute failure all the way around.
C+	RUN DEFENSE
Passable, but so much room for improvement. Plus OSU wasn’t necessarily a running team.
C	COACHING
Not many head coaching decisions had to be made, but you walked away with a win and I know that you don’t apologize for wins, but there’s a lot of room for improvement on all 3 sides of the ball.

2. Maybe Expected. Right now this team is mid, at best. Of course things can change, but I didn’t think that this team showed any juice until the 4th quarter, so you essentially have 3 quarters of what seemed like uninspired football. A lack of urgency or an inability to impose your will on a team is going to be a problem and as of right now, that’s the difference between this team and last year’s team. Last year, special players made special plays, and right now, the opportunity had not arisen or these players have simply not stepped up until that 4th quarter where I think I saw a spark.

3. What Do They Think of Hammond? QB Will Hammond had a “meh” day at best, sometimes looking like he’s overwhelmed and taking inopportune sacks. I may be getting this incorrect, but when Oregon State took the lead, the camera focused on Hammond has he walked along the sideline and assured his teammates that he wasn’t going to let this team down. I’m reading a lot into that, but that’s what it seemed like. OSU kicks the ball off and the next shot is Castellanos at quarterback and Hammond is sitting there stone-faced on the sideline, three terrible plays, one of which included a hold on Sheridan Wilson, and Hammond is asked to convert a 3rd and 10. I hated everything about this decision to put in Castellanos at this particular point, despite whatever Hammond not having a great game thus far. Either he’s your guy or he’s not and that doesn’t tell Hammond that he’s your guy. And I completely understand that Hammond had not done a ton to earn going out there.

That very next drive, Oregon State stalled, a true 3 and out with a delay penalty. A muffed punt return by Kenny Johnson (thank goodness he recovered), and then Hammond throws a dime to WR Coy Eakin. That’s the throw that we’ve been begging for, throw it to a guy that’s not necessarily open, but let him go make a play.

4. J’Koby Should Start. This seems incredibly apparent, right? It’s not just me, Williams has juice, and the ability to make something out of nothing, while Cameron Dickey and Quinten Joyner should see back-up time until they can show that they can do the same. We need to stop over-thinking this position and starting a guy because they started last year. I mentioned last week that Dickey is a good runner if he’s got open lanes and can ramble, but has little juke to his game. Joyner appears to be of the same mold, but am still not completely sure. Regardless, Williams is obviously the best running back and going through the first two drives without one of your best players on the field seems like malpractice

5. We’re Getting to the Secondary. I didn’t want you to think that we weren’t going to get to the defense. Holy smokes, the missed tackles and missed plays and wide open receivers and gaping holes in the secondary were a problem. This almost felt like the OSU offensive coordinator seeing a safety on Legree and just licking his lips at the thought of watching a safety or linebacker cover the quickness of Legree. I don’t know if that’s being overly simplistic, but that sure is what it seemed like and not having a cornerback ready to shadow Legree or figure out a way to double-cover him seemed like a real problem. I also have a problem with the players, I think this happened twice that I can think of, trying to make a play on the ball and not making the tackle, which then allowed Legree to shake loose and score a touchdown. I’m pretty sure that the OC is simply telling Legree to get off the line of scrimmage and find green grass, Atkinson will do the rest. Or, if Legree is lined up wide, then it’s a 12-yard cushion. 12 Y A R D S. Now you’re asking the a cornerback to cover an incredibly quick guy in space and you piss down your leg. Watch these highlights and tell me what you see.

6. Will the Defensive Line Stand Up? All of the offseason rhetoric about the defensive line not taking a huge step back may need to be revisited. We’re 2 games in and Adam Trick has just 3 quarterback hurries and I simply can’t remember anyone calling his name. I don’t even know my expectations from Trey White, but he’s being sold as a guy that will solve these problems. Last year, the defense had 13 QB hurries against Kent State and 12 against Oregon State. Texas Tech is sitting on 5 for each game thus far.

7. So Much to Clean Up. First off, I thought the Micah Hudson unsportsmanlike penalty was a bunch of crap. He was on the other side of the field and he wasn’t being malicious because he stretched out his hand to pick up the defender. You don’t do that if you’re being an asshole. For me, I thought this was a bad call. Maybe the pass interference call on Oregon State evened things out (the refs also got the Hammond fumble incorrect).

The offensive line looked completely overwhelmed at times. Jacob Ponton is supposed to be one of the best linemen and he’s got a ways to go. Just getting manhandled at times. And why is Ponton getting an encroachment call on an extra point? Ponton also had a false start

The unsportsmanlike on Joyner was appropriate. Maybe he got punked and then acted out. Don’t get punked and you won’t need to act out.

Bryson Jones lined up offsides on a punt you are not trying to block to then negate a 36-yard return by Kenny Johnson. That’s 2 weeks in a row where you have a special teams penalty cost your team. It’s not that difficult to get lined up correctly.

8. Idle Thoughts.

• I think I am a rare bird, but I enjoyed Adam Brenneman and Brian Kelly. Pretty even-handed from my end of things.
• Oregon State averaged 8 yards an attempt, 60% completion rate for 403 yards. Oh, and 182 yards after catch for the Beavers. Want to know how many Texas Tech had? 26. Yep. 26.
• Sack adjusted rushing was 178 for 4.3 yards a carry for Texas Tech and 82 for 4.3 yards a carry for Oregon State.
• Oregon State averaged 6.6 yards a play and Texas Tech 4.8.
• Oregon State had 14 big plays (rushes over 10 and receptions over 15 yards) for 343 yards and Texas Tech had 8 for 161.
• Hammond made only 4 deep passes and that’s really your biggest problem. He was 2 of 4 on deep passes.
• Texas Tech was 8 of 16 no 3rd downs and that may be one of the reasons why they won this game, but averaged 9.4 yards every 3rd down. That’s ridiculous. Penalties. Sacks. All of the things.
• Oregon State averaged 6.6 yards on 1st down and Texas Tech averaged 5.3. Texas Tech was 9 of 11 passing the ball on 1st down for 73 yards and running the ball was 18 of 75, for 4.2 average.
• Texas Tech did figure some things out in the 2nd half. Just 162 yards in the first half, 2.6 yards per rushing attempt and 14 of 18 passing for 107 yards with no passing touchdowns. The second half was 189 yards total with 4.1 per rushing attempt and 99 rushing yards and 7 of 10 passing for 90 yards and 2 touchdowns.
• Another solid outing from Will Karoll, 44 yard average and 4 inside the 20 including a 50-yarder.

9. Coach Comments.

10. Tortilla Tossin’ Players of the Game.

When you struggle to hand out tortillas you know there are problems, but Matt Ludwig getting a nice touchdown from Castellanos in the back of the end zone was nice to see. He had 3 for 30 yards including that 8-yard touchdown. Nice showing from the freshman without Terrance Carter.

I’m not sure the defense deserves any tortillas, but Ben Roberts had 10 tackles and 1.5 tackles for a loss, which included a sack. I’d also give a tortilla to Brice Pollock, 3 pass break-ups, including a couple of critical ones.

For me, Texas Tech doesn’t win this game without J’Koby, 20 carries for 116 yards and 2 receptions for 16 yards. We were supposed to see J’Koby be utilized more like Malachi Toney from Miami and we haven’t seen that just yet. Toney is largely used as a receiver and I’m not necessarily interested in seeing Williams used the same way, but it’s clear to me he’s the best running back.