Initial Thoughts on West Virginia's Loss to Texas Tech
The West Virginia Mountaineers were a three-point favorite heading into the game against Texas Tech on the road. The Red Raiders benched starting quarterback Allen Bowman for Utah State transfer Henry Colombi and the statistically number one defense made him a hero Saturday evening.
The West Virginia offense went three and out on the game’s opening drive after a dropped pass from Sean Ryan on third, and three quickly ended the Mountaineers first possession. Dropped passes, again, plagued the Mountaineers all evening. By my count, eight on the day.
Texas Tech complimented the defenses three and out taking their opening drive 69 yards on 10 plays sparked by Colombi buying time and rolling out to the left and delivered a deep pass to Myles Price for 44 yards down to the Mountaineer eight-yard line. Four plays later, Colombi punched it in from the inch-line.
The Mountaineers did respond and tied the game, and it did look like West Virginia was about to take control of the game. Receiver Sam James had a nice over the shoulder catch for 32 yards on the play, and a reverse flea-flicker set West Virginia up inside the five after the 34-yard pass to tight end Mike O’laughlin. It was good to see the playbook opened up and grab some momentum.
Yet, Texas Tech ripped off a 48-yard touchdown run to take a six-point lead. The defense looked tired early then, starting middle linebacker and team-leading tackler Tony Fields II was ejected for targeting. He would also be flagged on Texas Tech's ensuing drive for running onto the field and celebrating a turnover. The turnover was overturned and moved the Red Raiders 15 yards further down the field. Easily a bad penalty that a senior should know better not to commit.
The Mountaineer defense allowed 240 yards per game, and in the first half against Texas Tech allowed 235 yards.
West Virginia had a chance to get off the field but allowed Texas Tech to convert a fourth and 10 in the Mountaineers territory, and Texas Tech capitalized again and took a 20-10 lead. But before the half Evan Staley made a career-high 45-yard field goal to get the Mountaineers within seven. Earlier, he made a 41-yarder. Unexpected from the senior and may have been the player of the game.
In the second half, the defense settled in and only gave up one touchdown, but the offense continued to struggle with dropped passes and poor execution in the running game. Some of the drops were tough, whether falling to the ground or the defense knocking the ball out, but that’s where strength comes in, and maybe missing the summer workouts is the issue for this young receiving corps because they get bullied often.
Sam James fumbling the ball on a quick screen that resulted in a scoop and score midway through the fourth quarter was the difference in the game. Everything about that play was poorly executed.
The offensive line, which had been tough between the tackles, was getting pushed around by three down-linemen. At times, they got bullied by the worst defense in the conference. Granted, they did half a bye week last week, but that fourth-quarter performance was terrible. They looked tired, and honestly, the whole team looked tired by halftime.
Winston Wright Jr. had an unbelievable game. The sophomore hauled nine receptions for 126 yards but had a crucial drop on a third and eight with just under four minutes to play. The pass was a little low, but he has to catch that pass. Although with the pass being low, he may not have made the first down.
And that brings us to quarterback Jarret Doege. It was a homecoming game for the redshirt junior quarterback, and looked a little juiced up to begin the game. He missed wide-open receivers down the field early on overthrows. Doege eventually settled in but still didn’t cash in on big opportunities. Also, if he kept the ball on some of those option reads, Doege would pick up big chunks of yards, and if he tucked the ball when his receivers aren't open, he would not only pick up big yards, but it would open up the offense even more. Sometimes when your receivers aren’t stepping up, you have to take the game into your hands and make plays with your feet. A lot like Combi did against the Mountaineers.
Occasionally, play calling was frustrating, but it really goes back to the team looking tired – can’t execute at half speed.
Overall, this was a game that West Virginia needed to win to have a chance to make it to the Big 12 Conference championship game. Technically there’s still a chance, but to stay alive, this was a must-win. Now, I haven’t had the Mountaineers in the title game at any point, and I’m not saying this was game was an indication, but, again, this was a must-win to move the program forward. They didn’t take a step back, but it did stall.
Now, maybe West Virginia just caught Texas Tech at the wrong time, but if you want to play meaningful football in November, it should be your opponent that sees you at the wrong time every week.
It’s not time to panic by any means, considering its only year two under the Neal Brown era but falling short in a game that they should have won doesn’t give any room for optimism either.
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