MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Texas Tech quarterback Alan Bowman will be feeling his twin hit from West Virginia defensive end Ezekiel Rose and cornerback Keith Washington for quite some time.
Red Raiders coach Kliff Kingsbury confirmed that Bowman was hospitalized with a “partially collapsed lung” after being crunched by the Mountaineers blitzers in the second quarter Saturday.
Washington was coming from Bowman’s blind side on a cornerback blitz, while Rose blew by Texas Tech’s right tackle for an unabated path to the quarterback. The defenders arrived at the same time, just as Bowman released a pass attempt downfield. Because there was nowhere for him to fall, his lung ended up absorbing the blow.
Kingsbury said it’s the first time he’s seen a player deal with this specific injury.
“That’s a first for me,” Kingsbury said. “He got hit just right. A clean, solid hit by two guys at the same time.”
As bad as it was, Kingsbury is thankful it wasn’t catastrophic.
“The doctors said there was no fracture or internal bleeding, so I think it’s as clean as you can hope for with one of these internal injuries,” he said.
Holgorsen takes blame for energy dip
Mountaineers coach Dana Holgorsen says the blame for his team nearly squandering a 35-10 halftime lead falls on his feet. All week, he emphasized the importance of getting off to a quick start against the explosive Red Raiders. West Virginia complied, racing out to a 28-7 lead before the end of the first quarter.
But the offense stagnated in the second half, particularly on third down, going 1-for-6 while the Texas Tech offense finally got up to speed with backup quarterback Jett Duffey.
“I chalk it up to human instinct. We were relaxing when you can’t,” Holgorsen said. “That’s my fault. I have to do a better job making them understand it’s a four-quarter game.
“We put an emphasis on starting fast. But I guess I forgot to tell them we had to play a whole game. We play like that for a whole game, we’re going to be tough to beat.”
Another third-stringer
Duffey went into the season as Texas Tech’s third-string quarterback behind Bowman and McLane Carter – which means West Virginia will face a third-stringer for the second straight week.
Injuries have forced Kansas has turn to junior Carter Stanley, who earned the start against Oklahoma State. Stanley isn’t exactly a stranger to the starting role, though. He started five games for the Jayhawks last season, though the WVU game was not one of them.
Carter went into training camp vying for the starting role before being edged out by Peyton Bender and Miles Kendrick.
“He’s not your typical third-string guy,” said Kansas coach David Beaty. “He’s played a lot of ball.”
Pranking Gundy
After Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy threatened to cut off player access if reporters asked his players about transferring receiver Jalen McCleskey,
As a result of that mandate, Gundy’s first three questions during Monday’s Big 12 coaches teleconference were asked by pranksters intent on embarrassing him.
The first questioner echoed Gundy’s postgame statement that “people focusing on the wrong things is driving the country into the ground,” asking “What other aspects of people doing their jobs do you have a problem with?”
The second questioner asked about how the offense was able to put up such impressive numbers without McCleskey, and asked what his status was moving forward.
“Jalen McCleskey is transferring,” said a surprised Gundy. “I thought everyone knew that.”
If it hadn’t already been obvious, the intentions of the callers became clear when someone from the fictional Stillwater Tribune asked the next question. That caller launched into a soliloquy about Gundy’s petulance before sarcastically ending it with “What I’m saying is it’s 2018: Do we even need freedom of the press anymore?”
The Big 12 moderator apologized for the fraudulent questioners.
“That is OK,” Gundy replied calmly. “We have a lot of fraudulent people in this world.”
Take me to Red River
Hard as it may be to believe, but this weekend’s version of the Red River Rivalry between No. 7 Oklahoma and No. 19 Texas marks the first time both teams are ranked going into the game since 2012.
But as Sooners coach Lincoln Riley noted, both teams don’t have to be good to make it a memorable matchup. The last four games have been decided by less than a touchdown.
ESPN “College GameDay” is headed to the Cotton Bowl for Saturday’s game.
“Is it better from an outside perception? Maybe so. Will the game be any better than the last three years? I doubt it,” Riley said. “The game is always great. The atmosphere is always great. The quality of the game won’t be affected at all.”