Red Raider Gridiron: The Worst Performance; No Margin for Error

Good morning everyone.  I took a one day sabbatical yesterday.  I posted the 10 things post and then walked away for the rest of the day.  Just somewhat needed a 1 day detox and to get away from things.  I was/am sports-sad as I pine away for my Red Raiders to get a win.

Catching up with the LAJ. Every monday, we catch up with what the LAJ wrote about the game.  Normally, the thing that I'm most interested in reading is the game notebook where there are always things to note, but I forget to mention them in the 10 things post.  In any event, we find out that S Josh Keys was suspended for the game for violation of team rules and Baylen Brown took over for Alfredo Morales, who injured his leg early in the game, and then Brown was replaced by Dominique Robertson after Brown had, a penalty that offensive line coach Lee Hays (I guess) felt was unacceptable.

Don Williams writes about how there is just no margin for error for this team, and yeah, that's an understatement, especially when the offense and the quarterback, Davis Webb, throws 4 interceptions:

Tech scored a 33-game low in points - fewest since the 66-6 loss to Oklahoma State in 2011. Webb's four interceptions virtually assured the Red Raiders would lose the turnovers column for the 13th game in a row - a truly phenomenal distinction. Think about that. The Red Raiders have now played the equivalent of a full season plus a bowl game while committing more turnovers than their opponent in every one.

No one could have expected Tech to win games with its defense this year, certainly not early on, so the offense has to be productive. So far, it's been so only sporadically.

And Nicholas Talbot writes about how season is taking a toll on Kingsbury, complete with one sentence paragraphs:

He would give up all of the swag he gives to the program for a couple of wins right now.

That's why this season is already taking a toll on Kingsbury.

A couple of wins might be hard to come by.

The defense has been exposed and the offense, which the Red Raiders need to be consistent and potent is mistake prone and can be described as up and down at best.

But, it is a rebuilding process.

He knows it.

The Worst. FoxSports' David Ubben said that Texas Tech's performance on Saturday was the worst of the Big 12's:

Worst team performance: Texas Tech. The Red Raiders went to Manhattan and hardly put up a fight. Tech has been one of the most consistent teams in the history of the Big 12, but looks headed for its second season in four years without a trip to the postseason. Tech had four turnovers and gave up 535 yards of offense to the Wildcats in a 45-13 loss.

/sigh/ Yeah.

Changes to the WVU Defense. This is more of an FYI to myself for later in the week, but also an interesting note, West Virginia made some significant changes to their defense to plan for the more passing sort of teams the Mountaineers will face moving forward:

"Yes, absolutely,'' coach Dana Holgorsen said Saturday when asked if the changes to his lineup were designed not so much for Kansas as for the teams that are ahead. "We had time [to make the changes] during the off week and I didn't alert you for obvious reasons because we were preparing for an opponent we didn't want to tip off. But yes, moving forward that's something we're interested in doing.''

Here's what the defense did. For major stretches of the game with Kansas, Shaq Riddick and Brandon Golson were the defensive ends, replacing Dontrill Hyman and Noble Nwachukwu. That's in with a 6-foot-6, 242-pound end (Riddick) and a 6-2, 228-pound linebacker (Golson) up front and out with the 6-4, 288-pound Hyman and the 6-2, 265-pound Nwachukwu.

To replace Golson at linebacker, defensive coordinator Tony Gibson went with 6-2, 205-pound junior college transfer Edward Muldrow, who along with Gardner-Webb transfer Riddick made his first-ever start.

Miscellaneous. SAEN's Dirty Dozen rankings as well as the DMN's Best In Texas rankings and it's not looking good . . . according to CBS Sports, Baker Mayfield was stealing TCU's offensive signals during the game . . .