Texas Tech coach Matt Wells held a Zoom session with local media on Sunday to chat about the Red Raiders’ 41-14 victory at Kansas. Here are some takeaways:
SPREADING THE LOVE
with a 38-0 lead after three quarters, Wells and his coaches were able to insert several second- and third-string players for the final 15 minutes. The Jayhawks managed to hang up a pair of touchdowns in that timeframe, but Wells liked the notion of getting reserves some playing time.
“From an injury and health standpoint, it was good to get (the starters) out and not have to play to the wire,” Wells said. “It was an opportunity for some young guys to play late in the game. They’ve practiced hard to get those reps on game day -- some performed OK and some wish they had those reps back. They need to understand the seriousness of those reps. Those are important reps in their development.”
OFFENSIVE LINE PRAISE
Wells liked what he saw from the offensive line, which again featured some shuffling as the game wore on. The Red Raiders ran for 244 yards in the victory and neither Henry Colombi nor Donovan Smith had to deal with much pressure on pass plays.
“The o-line has played pretty good the last month,” Wells said. “They’ve played fairly well the last several weeks – they’ve protected Henry and we have run the ball well.”
EXTENDED LOOK, POSITIVE REVIEWS
Speaking of Smith, the redshirt freshman quarterback got his first extensive action of his career. He connected on 4-of-5 passes for 70 yards and ran the ball 6 times for 37 yards and a touchdown.
Wells emphasized that Smith will remain a factor moving forward.
“You see his confidence grow with how he’s played on game day,” Wells said. “He’s run the ball well and threw it good. I think he’s boon a smooth operator, he’s handled the play clock and done well getting in and out of the huddle.”
TIME TO START STACKIN’
Since a 3-0 start to this season, Tech has alternated bad losses with Big 12 Conference road victories. A theme last week was “stacking success,” and that came again Sunday. Wells said that is high on the priority list this week when Kansas State comes to Lubbock for an 11 a.m. showdown on Saturday at Jones AT&T Stadium.
“The big thing is to have a sense of urgency all week, just like we were coming off a loss and have something to prove,” Wells said. “It’s all about our refilling our tank this week.”
Wells will speak to the media again Tuesday, along with both coordinators and selected players.
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Randy Rosetta is the Managing Editor of RedRaiderSports.com
Contact him at (806) 407-0188 or RandyRosetta67@gmail.com
Follow on Twitter | @RandyRosetta or @RedRaiderSports
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