2014 has not been kind to Texas Tech and Kliff Kingsbury. The Red Raiders have not lived up to the hype that followed them after their dominating performance in last year’s Holiday Bowl when they beat Arizona State 38-21 despite being 22-point underdogs.
The Red Raiders struggled immediately out of the gate, barely escaping games against Central Arkansas, an FCS team, and UTEP with victories. But then they got shredded 49-28 against Arkansas and lost their first three Big 12 games against Oklahoma State, Kansas State and West Virginia.
The four consecutive losses are demoralizing, especially for a team with aspirations to be a darkhorse in the Big 12 title race, and the 0-3 conference start is the first time that has happened since 1990.
There are some positives in Lubbock, though. Texas Tech has played pretty well in two of those conference losses. They scored 35 points against Oklahoma State, a team that played Florida State very close in their first game of the year. In that game, the Red Raiders offense churned out 512 yards of total offense and their defense played better than one would expect against such a high octane offense.
Then they played by far their best game of the season last Saturday against West Virginia. In that game, the Red Raiders recorded more than 300 passing yards and 200 rushing yards, an impeccable display of balance that has not been seen in Lubbock in years. The defense played very well also, limiting Clint Trickett to only 301 passing yards, his lowest output of the season.
The two things that have plagued the Red Raiders the most in the Kingsbury era have been turnovers and penalties. They tied the Mountaineers one-to-one in the turnover battle, the first time of the season that the Red Raiders have not had more turnovers than their opponent.
However, the impact of each of those turnovers could have been much different. The Red Raiders’ lone turnover was a Davis Webb interception that killed a promising drive at the end of the first half, while they could only manage a field goal on West Virginia’s turnover despite recovering a Trickett fumble deep in scoring territory.
Because Kingsbury’s squad has been behind in the turnover margin by so much, they need to capitalize on the ones they do force.
Unfortunately, the penalties are another story. Against West Virginia, the Red Raiders did not limit the damage in that regard, piling on a dozen more flags to add to their nation-leading total. For the season, they are averaging more than 11 penalties and 104 penalty yards per game. That is an obscenely high total, making it even harder for Tech to win games.
These two particular aspects of the game have to drive Kingsbury crazy. He told the Dallas Morning News that he has tried everything to stop the penalties, but nothing has worked.
That’s what the Texas Tech fans and athletic department need to understand. Kingsbury is only 35 years old and has only been a coach of any kind for six years. He spent two seasons as an offensive quality control assistant at the University of Houston, then two as the co-offensive coordinator at the same school. Next, Kingsbury followed Kevin Sumlin to Texas A&M and after one year of overseeing one of the most prolific offenses in the country in 2012, Kingsbury reached the pinnacle of coaching. He got offered his dream job, head coach at his alma mater, and is now the head man at the same place he played quarterback in the early 2000s.
Kingsbury has proven that he is one of the best offensive playcallers in the country, but not head coach. When he was solely an offensive coach, he had Sumlin there to handle discipline as well as defense while Kingsbury was able to devote all of his time to offensive schemes.
Now, it’s a different story. Kingsbury has to focus on all the aspects of the game as well as learn how to win games as a head coach. No longer can he be the nice guy on the staff, the players’ best friend. He can still be cool, but the players also have to know that they must be disciplined and that there will be consequences for mistakes.
Tech had to know that there were going to be some growing pains with Kingsbury at the helm due to his young age and overall inexperience, and they showed they are willing to be patient when they signed Kingsbury to an extension that will keep him in Lubbock through the 2020 season.
The current Texas Tech roster is loaded with talent, especially on the offensive side of the ball, which makes it even more mind-boggling that the offense has not been firing on all cylinders. But it is easy to forget that they are very, very young across the board. Their starting lineup is filled with underclassmen on both sides of the ball.
The Red Raiders have only two seniors on offense and four on defense. They are also playing with a brand new defensive coordinator, Mike Smith, who took over the position after Matt Wallerstedt resigned unexpectedly.
Tech is rife with youth, and despite the rough start to this season, the future is still bright in Lubbock.The incoming recruiting class is impressive, headlined by Jarrett Stidham, the third-ranked dual threat quarterback in the nation, according to ESPN Recruiting Nation.
Kingsbury is going to be a terrific coach, but he is not there yet. He is good looks will only get him so far as a head coach, and he has the necessary work ethic to catapult himself toward the top coaches in the Big 12.
He even said so himself in his postgame press conference. He said to reporters after the game that his team still does not know “how to finish.” That goes for the players as well as the coaching staff.
There is no reason for panic in Lubbock. The Red Raiders may not win many games this year, but things usually have to get worse before they get better. Their four losses have been to good teams, Kansas State and Oklahoma State are both ranked in the Top 15 while Arkansas and West Virginia each lost to Alabama by a combined 11 points.
If anybody can bring championship caliber success to the West Plains, it is Kingsbury. Give him a few years for him as well as his players to hone their respective crafts, and the Red Raiders will be competing for Big 12 championships on a yearly basis.