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Matador Mailbag: What was that?

We try to answer your questions after the beatdown in Austin.

John Gutierrez-USA TODAY Sports

There will be so many articles written trying to explain that loss or what to do now, but we are here to approach this from a different from. You all had questions, justifiably so, after that atrocious game and I gave it my best shot to answer. Sadly, a lot of these answers are not good news.

Not great, but thanks for asking.

This is a tough question. Saturday could be just an aberration, one game of poor preparation that led to the a massacre. However, Tech has not looked right all year. The secondary is a mess, the defensive scheme is terrible, and the offense is inconsistent. I can’t pretend to be confident Tech wins 6 games this year. We will find out if the team is going to wake up or collapse this week, which will be very telling. My immediate reaction is Tech could be as good as 7-5, but they could also be as bad as 5-5.

We had another question dealing with who Tech can beat for bowl eligibility: Kansas, KSU, West Virginia. Those three have aspects that will give Tech the best chance for victory, no quarterback play. West Virginia and KSU will be tough games, but they are matchups you like for Tech. But then again, so was Texas. This is not to slight those programs or say Tech should expect to win, but hot messes or one-man bands on offense offer Tech the best chances to win.

The announcers talked a lot about hangover after a beatdown. Let me put it this way, Matt Wells is paid millions of dollars. If he can’t light a fire under his team after that loss he is not worth a single penny. I played for a terrible high school team, we got blown out all the time. I was never in a locker-room that quit because while we had no talent, our coaches kept us fighting. The test of Matt Wells’ remaining tenure is going to be can he get his guys to respond. If not, he has lost the locker-room and he should be out the door.

The scheme was just nonsensical. It was apparent after the first drive rush three drop eight was not going to work, and we never got off of it. Patterson’s defense has been the one thing Wells had to point to as an area of improvement and now that bright light is dark.

Will Matt Wells be fired?

We got this question multiple times. Look, this is Matt Wells’ last season if this thing crashes and burns. On a personal note, I am very unconvinced he has the chops to fix this. But I would be stunned to see him let go even if West Virginia is a disaster. Hocutt handpicked this guy, he will watch the season playout and decide what to do then.