D
Derek Young
Guest
OFFENSE
Despite the victory, Kansas State had significant struggles on this side of the ball. First off, they had no idea how to convert in short yardage situations. With the ball 2nd and goal inside the five-yard line, they ran it three times and turned it over on downs. In the opening drive of the third quarter, they advanced the ball in the red zone but again turned it over on downs in a short yardage situation. They attempted to run Alex Barnes out of the Wildcat and were stuffed. They went for it on fourth down near the beginning of the game instead of kicking a field goal as well and came up short, also.
Two other drives in the third quarter that should have been more successful faltered as well. A tripping penalty on Alex Barnes nullified a touchdown pass to Dalton Schoen. The same drive was stalled and only came away with three points. After a Kansas State recorded a safety by blocking a punt, they drove the ball deep on Texas Tech’s side of the field. However, Skylar Thompson threw an interception on a fade route to Isaiah Zuber.
In addition to having a touchdown wiped away due to penalty, Schoen also dropped a touchdown from Skylar Thompson earlier in the game.
However, the offense did get a lift from receivers – Isaiah Zuber, Zach Reuter and Malik Knowles. Knowles caught a touchdown and led the Wildcats with 5 receptions for 56 yards and a score. Isaiah Zuber had a couple timely third down catches and Zach Reuter had a couple key receptions on third down in the fourth quarter that extended a scoring drive.
Despite the struggles in short yardage, and not finishing drives in the third quarter, they did enough to hang on for the victory. A lot of that was due to the strong play from the receivers as they gave Skylar Thompson quite a bit of help, especially Zuber, Knowles and Reuter. Knowles has been the best receiver on the field for most of his snaps this season.
For whatever reason, Texas Tech was giving up the short and intermediate stuff to K-State. They took advantage, not as much as I would have liked to see, but just enough.
Texas Tech had a chance to get the ball back, down 18-6, and forced a three and out with 7:29 to play and the clock stopped. However, it was all washed away by a roughing the passer penalty that extended the drive and pushed Kansas State’s offense past midfield.
Not only that, Texas Tech still forced a Kansas State punt on that drive but then fumbled it away on the first play of offense. The Red Raiders were not good enough today. The Wildcats on the other hand, weren’t perfect, but dominated in just about every phase.
DEFENSE
For the third consecutive game, the defense did everything they could to keep the game competitive and allow the offense the opportunity to win the game. They hadn’t allowed a Big 12 opponent to score 20 points yet at Bill Snyder Family Stadium and today they held another to under 20.
There were a couple key plays by the defense that both kept points off the board but also set up the offense for the limited amount of points they did score. Jett Duffey dropped a snap that resulted in a Wyatt Hubert sack on 4th down and set up the Wildcat offense in Texas Tech territory. The drive would result in a touchdown just before half to take the 10-6 lead and K-State never looked back so it probably should be viewed as the play of the game and the decision that Kliff Kingsbury would want back.
Despite the offense striking out and only scoring three points of offense on three drives in the third quarter that started or went into Red Raider territory, the defense did everything to aid them. Reggie Walker caused a fumble by Duffey that was recovered by Justin Hughes. The field goal came off of that turnover.
In addition, A.J. Parker had a timely interception in the third quarter after Texas Tech had moved into the red zone following a strong kick return by the Red Raiders.
Kansas State also switched up their looks and caught Texas Tech off guard multiple times. They showed some looks against the Red Raiders that they had not used at all this season. One look was only three down linemen, two linebackers and six defensive backs. Another was four down linemen, only one linebacker but six defensive backs again. Tech couldn’t figure out how to attack them in these formations that they used in passing situations. Of course, the Wildcats had some exotic blitzes out of it, too. They roughed up Duffey.
Simply put, after the first quarter, Texas Tech just could not move the ball at all on the Kansas State defense.
SPECIAL TEAMS
There really weren’t any gaffes on special teams in today’s contest which was a nice reprieve from what we have seen most of this season. They nearly surrendered an ill-timed kickoff return for touchdown by the Red Raiders but it was saved by a mid-field tackle from kicker Nick McLellan.
Texas Tech did connect on two field goals from 39 and 42 yards, but Blake Lynch and K-State were perfect on field goals from 20, 34, 41 and 22 yards.
The big play of the game in this phase was a positive for the Wildcats. Brock Monty blocked his second punt of the year, but it was good for two points as he knocked it clear out of the end zone.
PERSONNEL
There’s not a ton of notes to make here. Alex Delton did not play and took the pads off after warm-ups, paving the way for Skylar Thompson to start at quarterback. Malik Knowles got the start at wide receiver on offense, alongside Dalton Schoen and Zach Reuter at receiver. Isaiah Zuber was indeed the fourth receiver and not Wykeen Gill. I’m not sure Gill saw the field tonight.
Defensively, Jonathan Durham started over Kevion McGee at cornerback in place of Duke Shelley. McGee did see the field in the nickel packages and when they put six defensive backs on the field.
Joe Davies notched another start at defensive tackle instead of Jordan Mittie. He played most of the game as well unless he was pulled in favor of the jet package. Wyatt Hubert also got the start at defensive end. Kyle Ball did not see a snap. The jet package was Hubert, Walker and then we saw Chase Johnston and Boom Massie with them.
The returners for special teams were Phillip Brooks and Dalvin Warmack.
Despite the victory, Kansas State had significant struggles on this side of the ball. First off, they had no idea how to convert in short yardage situations. With the ball 2nd and goal inside the five-yard line, they ran it three times and turned it over on downs. In the opening drive of the third quarter, they advanced the ball in the red zone but again turned it over on downs in a short yardage situation. They attempted to run Alex Barnes out of the Wildcat and were stuffed. They went for it on fourth down near the beginning of the game instead of kicking a field goal as well and came up short, also.
Two other drives in the third quarter that should have been more successful faltered as well. A tripping penalty on Alex Barnes nullified a touchdown pass to Dalton Schoen. The same drive was stalled and only came away with three points. After a Kansas State recorded a safety by blocking a punt, they drove the ball deep on Texas Tech’s side of the field. However, Skylar Thompson threw an interception on a fade route to Isaiah Zuber.
In addition to having a touchdown wiped away due to penalty, Schoen also dropped a touchdown from Skylar Thompson earlier in the game.
However, the offense did get a lift from receivers – Isaiah Zuber, Zach Reuter and Malik Knowles. Knowles caught a touchdown and led the Wildcats with 5 receptions for 56 yards and a score. Isaiah Zuber had a couple timely third down catches and Zach Reuter had a couple key receptions on third down in the fourth quarter that extended a scoring drive.
Despite the struggles in short yardage, and not finishing drives in the third quarter, they did enough to hang on for the victory. A lot of that was due to the strong play from the receivers as they gave Skylar Thompson quite a bit of help, especially Zuber, Knowles and Reuter. Knowles has been the best receiver on the field for most of his snaps this season.
For whatever reason, Texas Tech was giving up the short and intermediate stuff to K-State. They took advantage, not as much as I would have liked to see, but just enough.
Texas Tech had a chance to get the ball back, down 18-6, and forced a three and out with 7:29 to play and the clock stopped. However, it was all washed away by a roughing the passer penalty that extended the drive and pushed Kansas State’s offense past midfield.
Not only that, Texas Tech still forced a Kansas State punt on that drive but then fumbled it away on the first play of offense. The Red Raiders were not good enough today. The Wildcats on the other hand, weren’t perfect, but dominated in just about every phase.
DEFENSE
For the third consecutive game, the defense did everything they could to keep the game competitive and allow the offense the opportunity to win the game. They hadn’t allowed a Big 12 opponent to score 20 points yet at Bill Snyder Family Stadium and today they held another to under 20.
There were a couple key plays by the defense that both kept points off the board but also set up the offense for the limited amount of points they did score. Jett Duffey dropped a snap that resulted in a Wyatt Hubert sack on 4th down and set up the Wildcat offense in Texas Tech territory. The drive would result in a touchdown just before half to take the 10-6 lead and K-State never looked back so it probably should be viewed as the play of the game and the decision that Kliff Kingsbury would want back.
Despite the offense striking out and only scoring three points of offense on three drives in the third quarter that started or went into Red Raider territory, the defense did everything to aid them. Reggie Walker caused a fumble by Duffey that was recovered by Justin Hughes. The field goal came off of that turnover.
In addition, A.J. Parker had a timely interception in the third quarter after Texas Tech had moved into the red zone following a strong kick return by the Red Raiders.
Kansas State also switched up their looks and caught Texas Tech off guard multiple times. They showed some looks against the Red Raiders that they had not used at all this season. One look was only three down linemen, two linebackers and six defensive backs. Another was four down linemen, only one linebacker but six defensive backs again. Tech couldn’t figure out how to attack them in these formations that they used in passing situations. Of course, the Wildcats had some exotic blitzes out of it, too. They roughed up Duffey.
Simply put, after the first quarter, Texas Tech just could not move the ball at all on the Kansas State defense.
SPECIAL TEAMS
There really weren’t any gaffes on special teams in today’s contest which was a nice reprieve from what we have seen most of this season. They nearly surrendered an ill-timed kickoff return for touchdown by the Red Raiders but it was saved by a mid-field tackle from kicker Nick McLellan.
Texas Tech did connect on two field goals from 39 and 42 yards, but Blake Lynch and K-State were perfect on field goals from 20, 34, 41 and 22 yards.
The big play of the game in this phase was a positive for the Wildcats. Brock Monty blocked his second punt of the year, but it was good for two points as he knocked it clear out of the end zone.
PERSONNEL
There’s not a ton of notes to make here. Alex Delton did not play and took the pads off after warm-ups, paving the way for Skylar Thompson to start at quarterback. Malik Knowles got the start at wide receiver on offense, alongside Dalton Schoen and Zach Reuter at receiver. Isaiah Zuber was indeed the fourth receiver and not Wykeen Gill. I’m not sure Gill saw the field tonight.
Defensively, Jonathan Durham started over Kevion McGee at cornerback in place of Duke Shelley. McGee did see the field in the nickel packages and when they put six defensive backs on the field.
Joe Davies notched another start at defensive tackle instead of Jordan Mittie. He played most of the game as well unless he was pulled in favor of the jet package. Wyatt Hubert also got the start at defensive end. Kyle Ball did not see a snap. The jet package was Hubert, Walker and then we saw Chase Johnston and Boom Massie with them.
The returners for special teams were Phillip Brooks and Dalvin Warmack.
