Instant Reaction: TCU vs. Texas Tech

It’s gotten old discussing the disinterest from the fanbase, the horrible quarterback play, and the questionable coaching. Even the most ardent/staunch Texas Tech fan didn’t leave that stadium thinking the world had ended. In fact, they left thinking, “I’m hardly surprised.” I was hopeful we’d see spirited performances from the seniors, and we did see that from Justin Stockton, but that’s where the buck stopped on offense. Defensively, I’ll credit Gibbs for getting the squad ready.

But, I’ll dive into the lowlights below.

Justin Stockton - It’s hard to believe that he endured three losing seasons in his four on campus. But, he did everything in his power to turn the tide yesterday. He ran hard, cut hard, and was the only threat we had offensively. If you had told me that Stockton would run for 120+ yards, I’d have told you that we were in a position to win.

Nic Shimonek - What in the world happens to you after that first offensive drive? Seriously, I don’t get it. Equally, your death stares at receivers get a bit old. Full disclosure, we all want you to do well, and it’s totally fine to throw an interception - so long as you throw the ball. This was easily Shimonek’s worst game as a Red Raider.

Fumbles - Forcing six fumbles to only recover one is an extremely tough break. Should we have recovered even half of those balls then who knows how the game could have gone.

Targeting/Roughing the Passer - What a HORRIBLE call that was. Not much else to say about that.

Cam Batson - I get that the sun was shining yesterday, but does that mean you can’t catch a punt? I know the offense was anemic, but it’d have sure been nice to at least see you try to field one.

Keke Coutee - The poor guy needs to the ball to do something. Shame on the entire coaching staff for not getting him touches.

Kliff Kingsbury - Kicking a field goal, down by seven, to a ranked TCU team....at home. What in the world were you thinking? You were seriously the only person in a stadium of 50,000 to find that as a good idea. I assumed you learned your lesson on these tries, guess not. What happened to “fortune favors the bold?” You’re a shell of your former self.

Defense - Great showing overall from the defense. Outside of that first drive for TCU, they stymied this group completely. I’d really spin into the whole unit, but we lost 27-3 at home.

Next Steps: Here’s the deal, Kingsbury is likely going to coach this Texas game in Austin next week. Go ahead and get the thought of an interim HC David Gibbs out of your head. Given all that, Hocutt isn’t blind and he knows that there were a generous 40k people for K-State, maybe 50k for TCU, and 15k for Baylor. Should he not fire Kingsbury, he’ll have issues selling 20k season tickets next season. So, we’re gonna get what we’re all asking for. But, now we have to ask ourselves - is it the staff or is it the players that are holding us back? Personally, I think it’s the staff, but I guess we’ll learn more in about nine months. What a confusing off-season it’ll be.