Instant Reaction: Texas Tech vs. West Virginia

At the end of the day, West Virginia has won big games, and we haven’t. This one started about as poorly as it could’ve, but you’ve got to credit the team for not giving up. A few tough breaks having Alan Bowman get hurt, Jett Duffey is the best/worst quarterback at the exact same time, and we dropped close to one million passes. I’ll credit Will Grier for his effort today, because he was fantastic. Equally, the West Virginia receivers were outstanding in the first quarter. Nevertheless, it’s a tough loss but this was a house money game. Let’s dive into specifics:

Tech Offensive Line - I’m starting off with this group because I’m pretty disappointed with their play. Regularly, we were pressured in the pocket, and the running game never did get started. You’ve got to wonder ‘what if’ here...

Antoine Wesley - Well, he had an unbelievable catch, but he also dropped too many catchable balls. Should we have received some better effort here, we’ll always wonder what could’ve been on a few of those drives. I also wonder what sort of coverage Wesley gets if T.J. Vasher is on the opposite side....

Jett Duffey - I’m sure everyone is wondering why I haven’t commented on this yet - but, he was what we’ve heard he was. You’d get a unbelievable run, followed by a completely idiotic interception that would have you scratching your head. I guess we might need to get used to Duffey if Bowman/Carter can’t go moving forward. I’ll admit that his running ability was likely the shot in the arm this offense needed today.

Alan Bowman - I’ll give him an incomplete on the day, and he doesn’t deserve to be hated on much. He hit plenty of receivers in the hands, and wasn’t rewarded. I really hope he’s ok, but that hit was BRUTAL.

Ja’Deion High - He also had a horrible, and good game. Overall, you’ve got to wonder what would’ve happened if he had made a few plays in key situations - but he didn’t. Regardless, he had the quietest 100 yard game ever.

Offensive Gameplan - We essentially completed passes to four receivers - how does that happen? That’s hard to fathom frankly. The running game was Duffey’s scrambles, and we ran with Felton entirely too long. Clearly, the best backs are Ward, Henry, and Thompson - quit trying to do something otherwise.

Tech Defense - I’ve started to notice a theme that we get stronger as the game goes on, but we’re absolutely abysmal to begin games. Dakota Allen flashed a few times, Riko Jeffers has me excited, and I really like Tony Jones today. I’ll admit Eli Howard was invisible until that sack, and I did like what I saw from Adrian Frye. I’d do individual sections here, but there’s not much to say because we got zero turnovers, and the majority of our defensive wins were bad passes, drops, and then one decent play.

In conclusion, this was a tough loss, but the bye week is coming at a fantastic time. You’ve got to hope Bowman gets better, and our running game finds itself against TCU. Nevertheless, catch everyone in mid-October.

Wreck ‘Em.