MANHATTAN — Up two touchdowns early in the third quarter, the Matt Wells-led Texas Tech Red Raiders were backed up at their four after a good Kansas State punt. The heat was under Wells to lead his team to a win, and everything looked good so far.
On first-and-10, Kansas State defensive end Felix Anudike-Uzomah got a perfect jump on the snap, bursting into the Texas Tech backfield, where the quarterback handed the ball off to his running back just inside the goal line .
Anudike-Uzomah tackled the ball carrier immediately inside the end zone for a safety, a remarkable play that sparked 15 unanswered points for the Wildcats en route to a 25-24 win over the Red Raiders .
Wells was fired two days later , which TTU athletic director Kirby Hocutt admitted surprised the coach, who "didn't agree with the decision."
Four years to the week later, Wells now leads Kansas State's offense as its offensive coordinator under Chris Klieman. He will take on the Red Raiders, who have since received incredible investment as the football program has developed into one of the nation's best , for the first time.
Wells said there are still emotions ahead of the 2:30 p.m. kickoff on Saturday, Nov. 1, at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
"That was a chapter in our life, which was good unless you live by the scoreboard, but I'm not gonna live by a scoreboard or a final result," Wells said Thursday, Oct. 30. "Was it hard? Yeah. Were there good times? Yeah, there really were. There are good people there.
"I know the state of the program when we walked in there, where it was and where it wasn't, and I know when we walked out of there where it was, and we're proud of that."
Since being fired at Texas Tech, Wells served as an offensive analyst under Brent Venables at Oklahoma in 2022-23 before joining Klieman's staff as an associate head coach and co-offensive coordinator in 2024. He was promoted to the lone offensive coordinator before the 2025 season, following Conor Riley's departure to become the offensive line coach of the Dallas Cowboys .
Wells was given nearly $6.66 million in his buyout from Texas Tech after going 13-17 in two-plus seasons. The Red Raiders hired current coach Joey McGuire the next season. He who now has the Red Raiders as the No. 13 team in the country with one of the top-ranked defenses, led by quarterback Behren Morton , whom Wells spent two years recruiting to TTU.
"There's emotions because you live there and you have friends there; I'm still in stinking group texts with neighborhood guys and golfing buddies," Wells said. "To say there's not a human element, I mean, you're not living man, but I'm not defined by that either."
Wells is well aware of the considerable investment that has been made in the Texas Tech program since his departure, which he anticipated during his final months leading the program. Notably, Texas Tech athletics' total operating expenses were $136.3 million in fiscal year 2023 and $126.7 million in fiscal year 2024. The athletics operating budget for the current fiscal year is $164.2 million.
Texas Tech's roster is often recognized as one of the highest-paid in the country, in terms of Name, Image and Likeness.
"You saw it coming, at least I did on the way out," Wells said. "The stadium's awesome, the investment they've done there and the team that they've put together, they've done a really good job."
Wells is most focused on finding a way to get his offense to excel against the nation's best pass rush and run defenses.
A win for Kansas State would be its third in a row and highest-ranked victory since beating then-ranked No. 3 TCU in the 2022 Big 12 championship.
"This defensive coordinator and defensive staff have done a good job," Wells said. "The scheme is very, very good. They're sound. I'm sure they are, but they're rarely out of position, and then they freaking run to the football. I could go on and on. This will be the best defense we've seen."
The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal contributed to this report
Wyatt D. Wheeler covers Kansas State athletics for the USA TODAY Network and Topeka Capital-Journal. You can follow him on X at @WyattWheeler_ , contact him at 417-371-6987 or email him at wwheeler@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Matt Wells faces Texas Tech as Kansas State offensive coordinator
