Texas Tech University football team is at it again — like the Chicago Cubs, they give their fans hope to believe and play just well enough to break your heart by finding a way to lose. With a 34-20 lead in the fourth quarter with 7:32 to play against West Virginia University, somehow, and inexplicably, they lost.
Picture from foxsports.com.
Mountaineer field goal kicker Josh Lambert kicked the longest field goal of his career, a 55-yarder, as time ran out to give the Mountaineers ( 4-2, 2-1 Big 12), a 37-34 victory at AT&T Stadium. Tech (2-4, 0-3 Big 12) finds itself in the worst possible position they have been in since the1990 season with their 0-3 conference start. This is the first time Tech has started 2-4, in the last 20 years. Tech has lost four straight games, and eight conference games in a row, going back to the 1984-85 season.
Head Coach Kliff Kingsbury a noted early riser — 4:30 a.m. — has to feel like it is “Groundhog Day” on game day. Anything and everything that can go wrong this season has gone wrong.
“It’s been bad the whole year, so we just got to continue to fight and continue to get better, and figure out how to win some ball games,” Kingsbury said.
Tech’s defense continues to be woeful, as they surrendered 550 yards, matching their season average in allowing 249 yards on the ground, and giving up 301 yards through the air. Tech’s defense ranks 108 out of 125 NCAA Division I teams in the nation.
Someone ought to tell Kingsbury that being disciplined and winning football games has nothing to do with how early your team and you work out in the morning. Maybe it is being discipline and executing when the game is on the line, or not leading the Big 12 in penalties. Or, holding on to a 21-10 halftime lead.
“We just don’t know how to finish, we didn’t coach very well when we had to, and they didn’t play very well when they had too,” Kingsbury said of his team’s performance.
Picture from Craig Bradley’s Twitter
Once again, penalties played a role in the game as the Red Raiders had 12 penalties for115 yards. Two of those helped the Mountaineers on their drive that tied the game at 34-34. What turned the game around was when Tech was unable to capitalize with the ball on the Mountaineers 30-yard line and had to settle for two field goals instead of touchdowns.
Tech quarterback Davis Webb played an efficient game completing 28-of-46 for 348 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception. Davis has thrown 11 interceptions on the year eclipsing the 10 he threw last year. Tech receiver Devin Lauderdale had three receptions for 112 yards and scored two touchdowns. Tech running back DeAndre Washington carried the ball 29 times for 132 yards.
“It shouldn’t have ended like that, but we had plenty of chances to make it like that,” Webb said. “We were up by two touchdowns, and they went down to score, and then we kind of stalled and they scored again, so it’s all the credit in the world to them, but we had plenty of chances for it not to come down to that.”
Check out this video on Bleacher Report by Aaron Dickens called “Texas Tech Coaches Facepalm in Unison During Game vs. Oklahoma State.”
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