Texas Tech Recap
2021 was supposed to be a proof of concept year for Chris Klieman. Klieman returned an experienced offensive line, he cleaned house of the cancerous players, and had Skylar Thompson returning for a 6th year. Combining these factors, I thought this season would be unique and as fans we would be able to see a path forward. However, after Saturday’s performance and how the season has gone so far I think we as fans are left with more questions than answers.
Saturday’s win was a nice story. K-State came back despite self inflicted mistakes early. I am not giving K-State full credit, Texas Tech is a bad team and a comeback should never have been warranted in the first place, but I digress.
Lurking in the background of Klieman coached K-State teams are worrisome trends. Penalties, turnovers, and poor decisions. K-State has been better on the penalty front so far this year, but Saturday was a microcosm of Klieman’s tenure thus far.
Two Halves
Discipline issues aside, this team stepped up in the 2nd half and did enough to win.
Skylar had another nice performance to will this team to victory. He placed the ball where it needed to be and kept the offense in the game.
K-State stuck with the pass game and that in turn eventually opened up the run game. I thought K-State could have lined up under center a little more to run down this Tech defense, but playing from behind amid a lot of uncertainty required more passing.
Defensively, K-State made some adjustments at halftime and played a lot tighter electing for more of a 3-3-5 package. The defensive line really put together a nice performance and proved to be the difference in the game. This feels good considering their best pass rusher is also out for the season.
By the Numbers
Rushing Yards- Texas Tech: 170 K-State: 81
3rd Down Conversions- Texas Tech 20% (2/10) K-State: 42% (5/12)
Turnovers- Texas Tech: 1 K-State: 2
Penalties- Texas Tech: 5-40 K-State: 12-93
If you would have told me this would have been K-State’s stat line before the game, I would have thought no way they win. The penalties are unacceptable and really cannot continue.
Wrapping Up
I am a firm believer in how you win matters. K-State’s performance on Saturday is not a path towards sustainable winning. K-State really needs to put together a complete game against a quality opponent for me to start to feel differently.
The rest of the schedule is still favorable for K-State. A bowl game is on the horizon and at the end of the year there will still be more questions than answers about the 2021 season and the path forward.