Texas Tech recap: Gunned Down

The better our wins get, the more the media tells us how much we're going to get left out, how insignificant our early wins actually were, how "lucky" and "flukey" our record has been.  It's that time in the season where the blogs and tweets and articles that I look forward to all year long start turning on our team and I have to go into media black-out.  I'll try not to get sucked down into the pit of negativity that is November college football speculation.  But I'm hoping you guys can keep me accountable.

So!  Let's talk about that victory!

Some Things I Liked

 

I like Arthur.

-Opportunistic defense.  The defense gave up a ton of yards (442) but got the turnovers (3) and scored points (17) off them.  They had trouble with the pass coverage, didn't get a ton of pressure on Doege and didn't always get back in time to impede Tech's hurry up offense, but Tech's no slouch offensively.  It's kind of inconceivable that we gave up 442 yards and still beat them by 31.  It's even more inconceivable that they outgained us by 16 yards.  Snyder Ball.

-Meshak Williams.  Meshak had a huge day, just like I asked him to.  He forced a fumble in the first quarter, he knocked down passes at the line of scrimmage, he sacked Doege and he blocked a field goal in the second quarter.  He was huge and now I want him to be just a little bit better next week.  And the week after that.  And the week after that.  Etc.

-Chris Harper.  Harper is alive and well!  He had 99 receiving yards, set up huge blocks for the running game and continues to be our most clutch receiver.  Lockett may have the sideline hands, but Harper is big and tough and strong and will get it done in double coverage.  The receivers just keep getting better.

Some Things I Loved

I love Arthur.

-Collin Klein's rushing touchdowns.  Klein advanced his running game this week to include 20 yard touchdown runs instead of the 5 yard sneak we're so used to.  You know what?  The long run is even prettier than the short run.  The refs that botched so many calls in the first half made up for it in the second by throwing a block for Klein on his second rushing touchdown in the third quarter.  All is (mostly) forgiven.

-Arthur Brown's touchdown.  There is no one more deserving of a pick 6 than Arthur Brown.  It warmed my heart to see him get to the end zone, and then I saw how happy the rest of the team was for him.  This team!  They're something special.

-Randall Evans.  Randall finally got his big moment this week and put away the game for good with his fumble recovery.  Not only did he cause the fumble, but he scrambled around the side to pick it up, and then ran down the field 20 yards, and then got a face mask penalty which gave us another 15.  He's been so good this year at pursuing and blocking and tackling in space and never giving up and I was so happy to see him finally break through with this big time play.  

Some Things I Could Have Lived Without

I can't live without Arthur.

-Ryan Mueller's senseless chop block on Jarell Childs fumble recovery.  Did you guys watching at home notice how far away from the play he was?  Did you notice that he was blocking a guy who had no chance of impeding the touchdown?  Did you notice how late in the play he made the block?  Mueller had to go back upfield to block the guy, and the only thing I can figure is that he was excited and running on adrenaline and made a bad mistake.  It was a 4 point mistake, and took away a hard fought touchdown run from Jarell.  Bad on every front, but at least it didn't cost us the game.  I'm sure he'll be hearing quite a bit about that in film study.

-Questionable officiating on that whole series.  Okay, so Mueller should never have been near that guy, but it was a pretty suspect chop block to call.  To make matters worse, Thompson got pushed down in the end zone two plays later, the refs threw a flag for the obvious pass interference, then picked it up after deciding that their feet got tangled.  Two calls led to 3 points instead of 7.  Thankfully the game didn't come down to 4 points.

-First quarter play.  The guys looked stiff and slow throughout the whole first quarter.  The offense didn't seem to call plays that matched the defense.  The throws came late, and the runs came against a loaded box.  The defense took a few Tech possessions to really get the hang of Tech's rhythm and allowed a touchdown on the first offensive possession for the first time this year.  They only allowed one field goal after that in the first half, which is miraculous when you consider how many yards they racked up.  A little scary, but they did enough to give the offense time to warm up and get rolling.

Next up - Oklahoma State Cowboys.  Did you know that Oklahoma State is the only team Snyder hasn't beaten since his triumphant return?  Did you also know that the last second loss last year was one of Collin's lowest moments?  Every article I read about this team makes me like them even more.   See you Friday.  Avoid the media.  Expect to win.