Notebook: Tech rocked by KSU

Doege says turnovers a big factor

After scoring on the opening drive, stopping Kansas State, and getting the ball back, Seth Doege and the Red Raiders were looking to extend their lead to 14-0 over the Wildcats. Momentum shifted quickly when Doege was sacked and fumbled for what would've been a TD return if not for a penalty. Collin Klein and Co. went into halftime up 13-10 and never looked back, rolling the Red Raiders 55-24 thanks to a ton of Tech mistakes.

Doege felt that the turnovers all led to big momentum shifts that helped Kansas State roll as the game went on.

"That's what kind of shifted momentum is that we couldn't finish. We were moving the ball well. Each time we had the ball, I felt like we were moving the ball well. We just needed to finish, and when it came down to making plays to finish, we just didn't make them, and they did."

As Doege said, Tech moved the ball to a tune of 442 yards. Strangely enough, K-State ended up with only 426 yards. Doege knows that a handful of plays may make the difference between a win and blowout loss, and Tech will have to limit errors from here on out.

"There's a small margin for error in this league, in the Big 12, and anything like that, a fumble, that's when momentum can run just totally against you, especially in a big game like this. I feel like that's one of the plays. There was a couple of plays, just through my mind, that could've changed the game , changed the outcome."

Tech has no time to sob, as Texas will roll into Lubbock next weekend in a big rivalry match. Doege is ready to move on, and he hopes his teammates are as well.

"We've got to forget this one pretty quick, cause we've still got a lot of opportunity in front of us. We have a big game next week, and we can't allow this to hinder us in any way."

Tech out executed on defense according to Davis

Red Raider defense got out to a great start, forcing Kansas State to punt on their first two drives of the game. Things headed south from there, as Tech allowed the Wildcats to score on eight straight drives after that. Safety Cody Davis knew that the Red Raiders would have to play a near technically perfect game, but Tech didn't adjust well in the second half.

"They just came out prepared like they always are. They didn't make any mistakes, and we just kept shooting outselves in the foot, couldn't get adjusted to the things they were able to do to us, and they just kept going back to it and it just got out of hand."

So what was the difference after halftime? K-State's adjustments, according to Davis.

"I think they decided to throw the ball a little bit more. We had some bad matchups out there in space, one-on-one without much help, so they kind of exploited that and kept coming back to it. Once we did adjust to it, they went back to the run game, so they kept us on our heels."

Davis knows that the Red Raiders can't dwell on this game and must move on to the Longhorns to avoid a 2011-esque slide.

"Just like any other game, we've got to learn the lessons and put this one behind us. We still have a lot of football left to be played, and we've just got to keep pushing forward."

Bullitt ready to move on, Hyder attributes lack of focus in loss

Kansas State isn't very complicated on offense, and outside linebacker Terrance Bullitt knows this fact all too well. He felt that KSU simply out executed Tech on Saturday, the defense had maybe their worst game of the season.

"We knew what they were going to do, and they just came out and just beat us. We've got to give it up to them. They had a good gameplan, they executed, and they didn't make the mistakes that we did. We shot ourselves in the foot a lot, and we've just got to bounce back next week."

Defensive tackle Kerry Hyder agreed with his teammate and noted that Tech simply couldn't get the Wildcats to cough up the rock.

"The key thing is, they created turnovers and the defense, we weren't able to create turnovers. The offense put up a lot of yards for us, and we have to get takeaways in the BIg 12. We didn't get any today."

So what does the big man in the middle attribute to the Red Raiders' defensive woes?

"It's just focus. We didn't focus on our technique, and if we had played our technique, we would've had him tackled in the backfield. We've just got to come out and play technique, and we'll get that play stopped."