Red Raider Ravioli: “Defeat”

There’s no defeat for those who fight;
but only heaven or victory.

(The Mahabharata)

Ciao gente! (“Hi, folks”),

Texas Tech lost. Again. By 22 to Oklahoma. We saw...well...we saw the usual 2017 version of the Red Raiders. From the second-half collapse, the missed extra point (we should call it “kick tax”, as Texas Tech pays it every week), stupid penalties, and borderline play calling, we got the whole package.

The weak passing game finally rose once again and Tre King confirmed his previous quality games weren’t flukes. At the same time the rushing defense, the true 2017 surprise and pride, didn’t work at all and allowed 336 yards.

Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images

I don’t want Red Raider Ravioli to be “Andrea’s rants after every loss” (at least not just that), so in order to go over this concept, let’s go back to the opening words of the column and to the word in the title, “defeat”. In football, what’s defeat? It’s not related to victories or losses, to numbers, to touchdowns, or fumbles, or field goals. It’s about performance, It’s all about what the team and every single player gave on the field, how much they still have in their tanks when the game is over.

If the McMurry War Hawks, a D-III college in Abilene, lose by 80 to Alabama, is it a defeat? If they give everything they have, until the last sweat drop, to me it isn’t. If they did the best they could do, this is not a defeat. They can even be proud of their work if that was their best effort.

If you don’t understand what this has to do with the Red Raiders, I’m coming to the point. Clearly, Oklahoma at the moment is a better team, as their players are bigger, probably more talented, and well coached. I can’t blame Texas Tech for this predictable loss because they tried to do their best to recover the gap but simply hit a wall. I really, genuinely appreciated the effort, but that’s the actual team.

Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Now, there are four games still to be played, two wins needed for a bowl berth. I know that’s not the best college football team in the world, but now that major goals are gone, let’s focus on what we still can have from this 2017. Let’s stick with the team, and let’s act like a famiglia (“family”), our famiglia.

A presto! (“See you soon!)