Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire was “shocked” how poorly his team played in week one against Abilene Christian. What will be the one-word response for this performance? In a game that, on paper, seemed like a coin-flip game. However, a sloppy Texas Tech team was out of the game early against Washington State. McGuires road struggles carry on as too many turnovers and costly penalties were key factors in a 37-16 defeat at the hands of the Cougars.
Brooks Become A Bad Sign
After week one, Red Raider running back Tahj Brooks showed up on the first injury report with an arm injury with a “questionable” designation. But weekly reports never suggested he was in danger of missing the game. However, during pre-game warm-ups, it became clear Brooks wouldn’t play. The assumption quickly became this game would fall on Texas Tech quarterback Behren Morton. It was obvious Morton felt that pressure. He was erratic with throws and uncomfortable in the pocket. He lacked touch on his passes, whether check-downs or his few deep shots.
Cam’Ron Valdez looked good running the ball on most of his opportunities. But even with Morton struggling, Texas Tech offensive coordinator Zach Kittley’s play calls suggested he was not interested in establishing any rushing attack. After looking explosive on offense just one week ago, Kittley appeared shy to even allow Morton to throw the ball down the field until the game was well out of reach. Morton would finish the game 34-for-58 passing, 323 yards, and two interceptions. The penalties continue to be a problem. Texas Tech finished with 10 penalties for 81 yards. That brings the total on the season to 21 penalties for 159 yards.
Defensive Improvements Not Enough
The biggest defensive adjustment coming into this game was for the defense to play as a unit. It was obvious from the first drive that the defense had cleaned up plenty. Receivers were not running unguarded. The Cougar’s passing attack required quarterback John Mateer to complete his full reads on most passing plays. Sometimes it was apparent Mateer would go through all his reads and nothing was open. He only had nine completions for 115 yards passing. However, the problem was Mateer created positive plays with his legs all night.
Washington State recognized quickly how much Texas Tech struggled with the quarterback running game. Mateer would finish the game with 21 carries for 197 yards. He was the first Washington State quarterback to run for over 100 yards since 1987. Maybe the defense would have been able to bend and not break as much if they weren’t finding themselves in their territory for much of the game when they took the field. All of the offensive turnovers (four total and one muffed kickoff) helped doom the Red Raider defense. Washington State started five of its seven first-half drives in Texas Tech territory. The defense was playing with one-hand behind its back for much of the game because of the turnovers.
A Sloppy Texas Tech Team Is Left Asking “Now What?”
With 14:23 left in the game, Texas Tech was on Washington State’s seven-yard line. Morton made a great throw on the run for what appeared to be a touchdown to Josh Kelly. But it was negated by a holding call. On the very next play, Morton was hit as he threw the ball. It floated through the air like a lame duck as it fell into the arms of a Washington State defender. It was the perfect sequence to sum up how the night went for the Red Raiders. The final score doesn’t show how much the Red Raiders struggled in this game. If fans are looking for any reason to be optimistic, this team was still very clearly fighting hard in the fourth quarter (including recovering an onside kick).
Texas Tech lost two offensive linemen to injuries in this one. The injuries are already piling up for Texas Tech. With how this season has started, they are not getting any relief with North Texas coming to Lubbock next week. The Mean Green are 2-0 and have scored 87 points in two games. McGuire has started slowly with late-season rallies in the last two seasons. If Texas Tech can’t get it right with UNT, a surging Arizona State team, and Cincinnati in the next three weeks, the 2024 season could turn into a massive step backward in the Red Raider build.
