Blame poor discipline, shaky quarterback play, not refs, for loss vs. Iowa State

Texas Tech was penalized more than twice as much as Iowa State, but the majority of those costly calls were warranted.

This loss doesn’t fall on the #Big12Refs, like we love to make fun of on social media. Many of the Texas Tech penalties were just mental mistakes. Even the targeting call on Jordyn Brooks was accurate, though it didn’t seem like a vicious hit.

There were two freshman quarterbacks on the field this afternoon, but only one revealed his inexperience. Alan Bowman threw three interceptions and caused a safety when he was appropriately penalized for intentional grounding in the fourth quarter. He doesn’t deserve all the blame, but he certainly deserves more than the referees.

Or, instead of picking on a young football player, you can point your finger at Kliff Kingsbury for failing to adequately prepare his football team for this game. His quarterback looked rattled, his team undisciplined, and it was clear Matt Campbell was just the better coach. His aggressive playcall late in the fourth quarter on third down when he told his freshman quarterback to take a shot downfield instead of run the football and force Tech to use a timeout, that was bold. And it paid, and effectively sealed the game. Bowman’s proceeding interception wasn’t really a factor, the game was already decided.

Texas Tech is now 5-3 and 3-2 in conference play. With matchups against Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas State and Baylor left on the schedule, it seems like we’re on track for yet another six or seven-win season. Mediocrity will not release its steel-tight grip on Kliff Kingsbury and this Texas Tech program.

It’s certainly frustrating because it feels like this Tech team is different, and that Kingsbury has his team heading in the right direction. Yet, when the dust settles, this will once again be a 6-7 or 7-6 team and the fan base will be split right down the middle on what to do with their head coach. Round and round the cycle we go.