I'll be straight, the offense did not play well on Saturday. How many times have I said that since Kingsbury took over? Not much. Let's get right into it!
Overall Grade: F
It pains me to grade them that way, but the powerful, high-octane air raid offense scored only 17 points. I can't recall a game in recent memory when Texas Tech scored less than 20 points. It's not just the low score, the offense did not look ready from the first series of the game and that no doubt set the tone for the rest of the day. I know West Virginia is ranked #20, but I expected a much better overall effort from this offense, especially on Homecoming.
Quarterbacks Grade: D-
Patrick Mahomes had his worst game of the season in my eyes. He missed a lot of throws he normally doesn't miss and he just did not look like himself. He did throw for 305 yards and a touchdown, which came on a great throw from midfield to Jonathan Giles, but other than that spectacular play, he really wasn't able to do much. I will say this, the offensive line did a horrible job of blocking for him and it seemed on nearly every play he was having to run for his life. I'll cover them later on. Nic Shimonek came in during garbage time and threw a touchdown as well.
Running Backs Grade: F
Tech had 34 rushing yards for the game. Yikes! Even though the Red Raiders are a pass-first team, you would expect something anything from your running backs. The leading rusher was freshman Da'Leon Ward with 26 yards and Demarcus Felton had 18. Again there was no running game to speak of and I'm getting tired of saying that. However, similar to Mahomes, the offensive line's poor run blocking didn't help either.
Wide Receivers Grade: D-
Giles had another solid game with eight catches for 136 yards and two touchdowns. He is fast becoming the top target for Mahomes this season. However, no other receiver stood out and there were a few penalties committed by guys like Cameron Batson and freshman Quan Shorts that negated big plays that could have helped get Tech's offense going. There were some drops as well. As receivers, you can't make those errors and expect to win games, especially against tough conference opponents.
Offensive Line Grade: F
You guys saw this grade coming. It was a disaster for this group. Tech accumulated 10 penalties for 103 yards and most of them were on the o-line. Holdings, false starts, you name it. The pass protection looked very sloppy for the third game in a row as Mahomes was sacked four times and one was a sack-fumble he recovered. The offensive line has let Pat down quite a bit so far this season. If you have one of the best quarterbacks in the nation and you can't protect him, it doesn't do you any good. Like I said earlier, the line also did a poor job of blocking for the running game and that didn't help take any pressure off of Mahomes. If this line can't play any better than what I saw on Saturday, Tech is in serious trouble of seeing their season go up in smoke.
Let me acknowledge that West Virginia is a ranked team and they will likely climb in the polls after their performance against Tech. A small part of me doesn't feel bad for losing to them, but the rest of me just screams that Tech should have played better. Kingsbury mentioned in his postgame press conference how this performance was embarrassing and I totally agree with him. I hope to give out much higher grades next week after Tech's matchup against Oklahoma. Check back next Monday!
Loading comments...