TT Last Game Highlights + Preview

Tech beat the international stuffings outta FIU last week. Enjoy some highlights with a serving of tortillas.

 

Tech's WRs, are fast and have a knack for getting open. I don't know what would slow them down. However, of the plays provided, FIU appeared to be running a zone under with man coverage over. They didn't appear to have the speed to keep up with the Tech WRs. The Tech QB looked to be making very accurate throws. I hope Sark & Co. can find a way shut their passing game down. Just my take.

 

Shough’s no slouch.

 

I’m hopeful for our D. Shutting down this sort of passing attack is what Coach PK built his reputation on. Still, Shough is a good one. Holding them to around 20 would be an accomplishment.

On the other side of the ball, I think our RBs will rip them.

 

Tech vs Texas Preview​

Texas Tech’s offense is pretty simple to break down using Expected Points Added [EPA]. The passing attack is generating nearly 95% of the total team EPA while the rushing attack put up a shocking -0.67 rushing EPA vs. FIU.

SaRodrick Thompson returning to the lineup at full health will help the Red Raiders ground game, but as I’ll explain later there are signs that Tech’s experienced offensive line might just not have what it takes to sustain an efficient rush.

The passing attack is led by Oregon quarterback transfer Tyler Shough and junior wide receiver Erik Ezukanma. Ezukanma leads the Big12 in receiving yards and was instrumental in Tech’s come from behind victory to open up the season vs. Houston. Texas fans will remember Ezukanma from performances in 2019 and 2020 where he combined for 14 receptions, 226 receiving yards, and 2 TDs against the Longhorns.

How the Texas defensive backs fare in contested catch scenarios vs. Ezukanma will be one of the key storylines for Saturday. If the Longhorns can force Shough off his primary read their chances of getting a stop increase significantly.

Texas Tech offensive line struggles

Before we look at the numbers I’ll quickly explain the difference between “highlight rushing yards” and “OL line yards”. Highlight rushing yards refer to yards picked up by the rusher after the offensive line is taken out of the play. While OL Line yards measure the offensive line’s impact from 0-8 yards.

A good example is Keilan Robinson’s 65-yard touchdown run against Rice. The Texas OL executes their blocks perfectly which leaves Robinson untouched for the first 8 yards of the rush, giving Texas “6 OL line yards” 4 for the initial four yards and .5 yards between yards 4 and 8. The remaining 57 “highlight rushing yards” are all due to Keilan Robinson’s speed and acceleration.

Against Houston and FIU the Red Raider rushing attack generated only 1.91 OL Line yards per carry. A mark that would rank second to last in the Big12 in 2020. Neither game featured a fully healthy SaRodrick Thompson, but it didn’t seem to matter for Tech as the skill players combined to put up over 100 “highlight rushing yards” in each game.

My takeaway from Tech’s poor OL line yards but outstanding highlight rushing numbers is that Tech rushers have been able to feast on G5 defenders at the second and third level in the open field to hide what might be an inefficient rushing attack.

On paper, this matchup screams advantage Texas with their highly-touted stable of defensive lineman. Yet after a sluggish start against Louisana and a tap out against the Arkansas front five, confidence in the Horns 1st level is understandably low.

This matchup presents a perfect opportunity for the Texas DL to stuff the run and get their mojo back before the meat of the conference schedule gets underway.

[More from IT at the title link]

 

That dude should hide his horn love better before his coach or teammates find out...killer tatt though.

Love you, Godz..so glad you are back

 

Tanx, Rain. Was wondering if anyone would notice that (besides Dion).

 

So Shough is pronounced “Shuff”?
Seems to me that it ought to be pronounced as “shoe” or “show.”

 

according to ESPN, it is not TT, it is TTU.

 

"Sloth"

 

Ezukanma has 350 yards receiving in 3 games. Tech's next best receivers have 132 and 81 (tight end). Seems pretty clear that the d-line needs to bottle up the run and Texas needs to bracket Ezukanma and the defense should roll.

 

I pronounce it "Target".

 

It’s pronounced “Shuck” — like what you do to oysters.*

He’s good, but as your review pointed out, his OL has problems. Watch for Coach PK to dial up blitzes and stunts and put the pressure on him. Our coverage is pretty good too, I think. Shough will find the open man if he’s given time though. Holding them to around 20 is a good goal.





*Then you smoke them, batter and fry them, or bake them with spinach, bacon, and Parmesan. Only eat them raw if they come from Northern (or otherwise very cold) waters.

 

Here's TT head coach Wells and their coordinators giving the Lubbock press some bullet points about the upcoming game:

Texas Tech Football Notebook: Coaches Discuss Longhorns

Some highlights:

• Fewer missed tackles is a huge thing internally to reduce the missed tackles and yards after contact and reduced that year after year. A game like this will be prevalent, that usually ends up being chunk yards.
• This will be the best defensive front that we face. Very good linebackers. It will be imperative to run the ball on the road and need to run the ball on the road to win and protecting Tyler Shough
• The way we practice, as we improve we go good-on-good, have to improve on pass-blocking and run-blocking.
• [regarding Tech's D Front] Up front we are bigger and more physical, got bigger and stronger. When you look at us, we don’t look that big, but we are powerful up front. More physical up front.

[it's obvious that Tech's coaches are worried about the performance of their OL]

so who DOES have a good OL these days...?
(Bama? Wisconsin? Arkansas?)

 

Really looking forward to the Tech game Saturday...





Mr. "Shuck", I'd like to introduce you in advance to Jacoby Jones. You'll be seeing a lot of him on Saturday.

No need to feel any pressure, or be in a hurry. I'm sure y'all will hit it off smashingly.

 

Time for Kwiatkowski to start earning his pay.

 

When he has time, Shough will find an open man, and he likes to throw deep. Also, he was the most efficient QB in the PAC last year. Coach PK's meat and potatoes is stopping this sort of O, so yeah, we'd better do at least pretty well against Shough and Tech or we've got problems.

I don't want to get too carried away here. While QB Shough is very good, Tech's OL and talent level overall is lacking. SFA played them very tight for crying out loud. Also, Tech OC < Oregon OC. Still, we've got to pressure Shough or he could pick us apart.

Tech = a mediocre team with a good QB and a good WR or two. (in other words, a classic Tech team)

 

BON has a piece with a Q&A from a Red Raider writer. This quote has me salivating:

"The linebacker group is just insane. Riko Jeffers and Colin Schooler were dominant enough, but the group has tremendous depth. Teams have just not been able to get past them. The most success running the ball has been trying to attack the perimeter, but the secondary has been coming down hard in run support."

Any school that relies on LBs taking down our RBs after they pass the line of scrimmage is going to have a bad day. Arky was able to bottle up our run game only because the d-line was hitting guys in the backfield. The Tech LBs may bring down Bijan or RoJo, but only after 4+ yards and at some point those guys will pop a long one if the d-line isn't holding its own.

Even better, Sark's entire passing strategy relies on hitting play action deep passes when the secondary comes down hill to help take on runners. We may see Xavier Worthy breakout this game. I'll say 120 yards and 2 TDs.

 

Tech Has Ample Motivation For Texas​

....Few, if any, setbacks have stung more and stuck with the Red Raiders longer than the one last year against Texas. The Red Raiders lost 63-56 in overtime after leading 56-41 with three minutes left in regulation.

"I felt like that L was one of the biggest of the season last year," Tech wide receiver Erik Ezukanma said Tuesday, "and coach (Matt) Wells brings it up a lot — makes sure that we remember it, how we felt and how we didn't close out that game. That'll be a big emphasis this week: making it to the fourth quarter and if we have a lead or we don't have a lead, just winning the fourth quarter overall."

Ezukanma, the Big 12 receiving leader, called Texas "our rival overall." If this week is the last time the two teams play for a while, he plans to get in his licks on the Longhorns while he can.

"It's going to be awesome to go into Austin and give them a fight and smack them in the mouth a little bit," he said. "Obviously, we're 3-and-oh right now, so we have a lot of confidence in our game plan and going into Austin this week.

If the Red Raiders are to win in Austin for the third time in four trips, they'll likely need a special effort by their defense. Tech has the Big 12's second-ranked rushing defense, allowing 54.3 yards per game and 1.7 yards per carry. But Longhorns' sophomore Bijan Robinson has lived up to his reputation as the nation's top running-back recruit coming out of high school, running for 703 yards in nine games last year and 299 in the first three games this year.

"It's kind of strength on strength," Wells said, referencing Robinson, the Longhorns' other backs and the Red Raiders' defense. "They're really good football players, but the strength of our team is our defense right now, and the strength of that defense is the D-line and the linebackers, so it'll be a good challenge for us."

[More from Hook'Em at the title link]

 

Inside The Gameplan: Tech D​

Texas Tech is still terrible at defense.

They have a lot in the playbook... but they don’t run more than half of it cleanly (if that). Fatal flaws for Tech include lacking impact players along the defensive line and building secondaries every season with late-coming transfers who have little time to master a system and develop chemistry.

They can’t really rush the passer without blitzing, so they’ve quickly settled into an identity as a cover 1 defense who create a variety of four and five man fronts after the snap by blitzing one or two linebackers to join the 3-down linemen. Their reliance on man coverage isn’t about the abilities of their defensive backs in man so much as their inability to play zone together without busts.

So how does Texas handle a defense which run blitzes linebackers every other snap and plays man coverage? I suspect Steve Sarkisian will have a lot up his sleeve, but an obvious remedy is the mesh play....



Mesh is great for attacking man coverage, as is the scramble, combined they can tend to open up this running lane if the wheel and shallow carry away defenders.

I’m pretty skeptical of Tech’s ability to have a disciplined pass-rush against Thompson. They may spy him though and he should be aware of their linebackers in the middle of the field, particularly Colin Schooler....

Tech may try to test Texas’ ability to pick up run blitzes and stunts up front, but their defensive coordinator may also rush three and spy with Schooler a fair amount. Particularly on third downs where Thompson is happy to grab first downs with his legs if you allow it.

Either way, outside zone should be there against this defense, especially as the game wears on and their D-line tires of slanting into bigger people. Tech’s pass-rush also tends to disappear as a consequence of the same factor.

A 3-down front which routinely slants into 4-down fronts while adding linebackers is just the sort of scheme you can bust with outside zone calls.

[More from IT at the title link]

 

More of the media weighs in:

Texas Tech vs. Texas Football Prediction and Preview

Texas vs Texas Tech Prediction, Game Preview

Texas vs. Texas Tech odds, line, spread: College football picks, Week 4 predictions from model on 72-58 run

Texas Tech vs Texas Picks & Predictions - NCAAF Week 4

Texas Tech vs. Texas Prediction, Preview, and Odds - 9-25-2021

Longhorns Wire staff predictions for Texas vs. Texas Tech

Texas Tech vs. Texas: Expect Points in Big 12 Rivalry Game

Football preview: Texas Tech - University of Texas Athletics

Some of these folks are really touting Tech's run defense. They'll get their first real test of the year against Robinson, Robinson, Johnson, and Thompson. When I think Tech football, run defense is not what comes to mind.

 

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Just realized our running back group are the 4 ‘sons.