The Red Raiders have a serious problem with QB

The uncertain future of Texas Tech football head coach Matt Wells is somewhat overshadowed by the fact that this program has a serious problem at the top of the field. And if that is not resolved, the rest of the 2021 season will be even more difficult than in recent weeks.

The simple truth is that Henry Colombi is not a viable option to lead this team’s attack. He is a player, a competitor and overall a hard worker, but he lacks the skills to lead the Red Raiders to victories.

We saw it again on Saturday as he fed just 10-17 assists with a meager 148 yards without a TD when he was picked up once in his team’s 25-24 loss to Kansas State.

The most telling of the loss to the Wildcats was that Tech threw the ball only 17 times. This happened despite the fact that the busy game only produced 170 yards in the country. And remember, the Red Raiders picked up 75 yards, rushing in the first two sets of the game with Kaylon Geiger sideways to the wide receiver and Erik Ezukanman with a jet sweep.

The rest of the way, Tech and its ground game collected a meager 95 yards in 35 moves. It’s averaging just 2.7 yards in a hurry.

But even on the day the ground game didn’t shoot all the cylinders, offensive coordinator Sonny Cumbie played only 20 assists (Colombi fired three times). This is a sign of a lack of confidence in your QB’s ability to win the game with his arm.

Therefore, the question arises if you don’t have the faith in the QB to lead your team to victory over a team like Kansas State that was against the 96th nation feed, why are you just that QB. put on the field?

Of course, we know that the original plan was never for Colombi to play such a significant role in this year’s team. It was supposed to be Tyler Shough, who handled QB duties throughout the season. However, one broken collar changed everything and pushed Colomb back into a role he is simply not ready to deal with.

It’s not that a junior from Florida was an unbridled disaster. But in four starts this year, he has only thrown one TD pass after being picked three times. He also failed to cross the 150-yard limit in either of his last laps. In addition, he has played two games in which he has played less than 60% of his passes.

All of this adds to the insight that Colombi is the kind of QB that keeps his team somewhat competitive, but he’s not the QB that’s going to be the difference. And the differentiator is what Tech needs in that place, as the defense has proven weak this year against quality teams.

But the problem is that Tech may not have a viable option to turn around until Shough is ready to return. We also don’t know for sure if Shough is ready to play again this season.

Currently, redshirt freshman Donovan Smith sees playing time scattered. But he is used as a acclaimed runner more than a legitimate QB. He has only been allowed to throw a football five times this year (all came in a cleaning mission against Kansas) and has been asked to run the ball 15 times. Thus, it’s fair to wonder if the coaching staff will trust him enough to give him a broader role in the attack, especially to give him reins as a beginner until Shough can return.

It all poses a pretty big problem that this program needs to address. This is because Tech is starting to face some of the best defenses in the Big 12 as three of Tech’s next four opponents (Iowa State, Oklahoma State and Baylor) rank among the top three in the conference overall defense. Thus, a worse game from the QB spot cannot continue if Tech hopes to have any chance of saving a fast-slipping season.

The problem is that at this stage there do not seem to be any viable alternatives. Thus, the fate of the Red Raiders may have to continue the fight knowing that their QB game isn’t good enough to win the game alone, and that’s certainly not what this anxious coaching staff needs right now.