Tech: empty words, empty offense

When Behren Morton’s pass fell harmlessly to the turf at the goal line with 19 seconds left and not a Red Raider in sight, the failed fourth-down pass on a failed Saturday afternoon in overcast West Virginia brought two issues into focus:

• The 8-5 season of 2022 was a mirage.

• The Texas Tech offense has some real problems.

Just when Tech fans thought September couldn’t get any worse, it did in a hideous way with a 20-13 loss to the Mountaineers to drop the Raiders to 1-3. Just four weeks ago, a popular preseason question was whether the Raiders could get to double digits in wins. Seriously.

No question Tech supporters were sold some cure-all medicine from the carnival barker this summer. They eagerly forked over their belief and heady optimism, drunk on coach Joey McGuire’s proclamations of greatness the likes that haven’t been felt in Lubbock in 15 years.

Looks so silly now. I’m not sure how much anger is within the program, but there’s plenty outside. It’s equal parts anger among fans for naively believing in McGuire’s boasting they were going to put the country on notice that there was a new power in the Big 12 and other such blather, and anger at an underperforming offense that at times looks simply inept.

There were a few of us – present company included – who were saying a while back to maybe tap the brakes on the 2023 Big 12 conference championship parade and look at last year a little more critically.

In 2022, Tech played three overtime games and won all three. Another narrow win – 14-10 over Iowa State – took two goal line stands to secure against the 4-8 Cyclones.

In the first OT win, this one against Houston, Donovan Smith completed a fourth-and-20 pass or else Tech would have lost. In the second OT win against Texas, it came after a rare fumble from Longhorn running back Bijan Robinson. In that game, Tech also converted an absurd 6-of-7 fourth downs. The third OT against Oklahoma, the Sooners missed a chip-shot field goal that quite a few said was not a miss.

Hey, 8-5 is 8-5, and Tech should be applauded for making the plays in the best season in nine years. But it’s a short walk from that to losing all four and finishing 3-9. Or, say, the Raiders split those four games. That’s still 5-7.

If any of those happen, well, let’s just say there’s probably not much talk about a double-digit win season in 2023. If a mirage is seeing something tantalizing that doesn’t really exist, the mirage is that the 2022 season was dominant and would lead to bigger things. It was a season of good fortune, not luck, and there’s a difference. And these things tend to even out – and they have.

Tech lost in double OT at Wyoming when the Raiders couldn’t stop a fourth-and-7. They were 20 yards from a game-winning field-goal attempt before a pick-six was the difference in a 38-30 loss to No. 9 Oregon. And Tech certainly had its chances against the Mountaineers despite an unsightly offensive first half.

But these close defeats shouldn’t mask a deeper problem, and that’s a disjointed sputtering offense, one that returned nine starters from the bowl win over Ole Miss. Even in the worst of seasons, Tech at least showed some offense, but not in two of the four games.

Offensive coordinator Zach Kittley has taken heat, and rightly so. Despite the returning experience, Tech went nearly three quarters without a point at Wyoming. That was just the warmup act for one of the worst first halves of offense in the modern era of Tech football on Saturday – 56 yards and two first downs. West Virginia was only slightly less worse, a reason Tech was within reach at 13-3.

The offensive line was supposed to be better, but it’s not. There are no alpha dogs among the receivers who have trouble separating and making the tough catch.

Many believed quarterback Tyler Shough was holding the offense back. The hard-luck Shough broke his fibula in the first quarter on Saturday. Enter Morton, the people’s choice. He was just 13 for 37 for 158 yards.

Running back Tahj Brooks is the only consistent weapon, but for some reason known only to Kittley, he’s forgotten for significant and key stretches. He averaged 6 yards a carry against Oregon, but only had his number called 11 times.

Brooks had two carries – two – in the first half on Saturday. It was the same number as Shough, who had a broken leg. Brooks ended up with 23 in the second half for 149 yards, but why did it take 2 ½ quarters to start feeding Brooks?

And with Tech on the Mountaineer 11 with 43 seconds left and two timeouts, Brooks not only didn’t get a carry, but he wasn’t even lined up in the backfield. Lack of Brooks awareness is one reason Tech was a woeful 2 of 18 on third-down conversion.

Red Raider Sports unearthed this nugget: in Tech’s three losses, on third down, the Raiders averaged third and 8. No wonder Tech is No. 58 in the country in total offense.

“60 Minutes of Us” and “The Brand” of the toughest, most competitive, hardest-working team in college football. So far, it’s empty words. Still eight games remaining, but right now, it needs an accompanying laugh track.

Jon Mark Beilue writes about regional sports for The Eastern New Mexico News.