Texas Tech Football: Red Raiders Must Exploit Shaky ASU O-Line

If the Texas Tech football team is to move to 2-0 on the season tonight, the defense must take advantage of Arizona State’s biggest weakness, its offensive line.

Talk to any football coach about his team and it will not be long before he brings up the importance of the offensive line. That has certainly been the case for Arizona State head coach Todd Graham in 2017. Through two games, the Sundevils’ offensive line has been the Achilles’ heel of what could otherwise be a potent offense. But Texas Tech football fans must wonder if the Red Raiders have the ability to exploit ASU’s most crucial weakness.

Thus far, ASU has averaged a putrid 1.7 yards per carry (127th out of 128 teams in the country) against two non power-5 teams in New Mexico State and San Diego State. That stat should be reassuring to Tech fans still having flashbacks to last season’s matchup in which ASU rushed for over 300 yards and had two 100-yard rushers.

Obviously, getting the ground game fixed is an area of concern for the ASU coaching staff.

"“That’s the biggest thing offensively is eliminating the negatives and being able to establish a run game,” Graham told ArizonaSports.com this week.. “Those are things we’re focusing the most on.”"

But the ASU offensive line has not only struggled in run blocking. The unit has been equally as poor in protecting quarterback Manny Wilkins.

Wilkins has attempted 60 passes this year and has been sacked an astonishing 11 times. In other words, he has been sacked on 18.3% of his drop backs this year.

While much of the focus has been on the Red Raiders run defense being able to stop ASU’s Kalen Ballage (who scored an NCAA record-tying eight touchdowns against Tech last year), the Red Raider’s ability to pressure Wilkins is likely the key to this matchup.

The battle between the ASU offensive line and the Tech defensive line appears on paper to be a weakness-versus-weakness pairing. That is because Tech is coming off a season in which it had just 14 sacks as a team. Furthermore, no player on this year’s defensive line has more than one career sack in college.

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Against Eastern Washington, Tech managed just one sack on 36 pass attempts. That lone sack came from 2017 JUCO transfer Tony Jones, a hybrid linebacker/defensive end that was brought in to be a pass rush specialist.

While Jones must be an impact player tonight, his teammates along the defensive line must be more productive. That includes defensive end Lonzell Gilmore.

The former 3-star recruit who had offers from Baylor, Nebraska and Kansas State has been the personification of potential since arriving on campus in 2015. But the 6-foot-3 Gilmore has yet to develop into the player Texas Tech needs him to be.

However, the time is here for Gilmore to step forward. He is the most naturally talented pass rusher on the defensive line and despite being only a redshirt sophomore, he is also one of the unit’s most experienced members.

If he is ever going to have a breakout game, it would seem like tonight’s contest against a struggling ASU offensive front would be the ideal time. If he and his teammates are not able to pressure Wilkins, Texas Tech could be in trouble.

That is because Arizona State boasts excellent talent at the skill positions. Wilkins is a 70% passer while his favorite target, N’Keal Harry, a 6-foot-4 216-pound sophomore is likely to be a high NFL draft pick as soon as the 2019 draft. In total, ASU has four receivers with at least 100 yards receiving and a touchdown on the young season.

If Wilkins has time, he may be able to pick the Texas Tech secondary apart. Unlike Eastern Washington, which was trying to replace its top three receivers from a year ago, ASU knows exactly what it has on the outside.

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The Texas Tech defense benefited greatly from drops and missed plays by the EWU receivers and quarterback two weeks ago but it would be foolish to expect Wilkins, Harry and company to be as generous. So, while everyone at Jones Stadium tonight will hold their breath every time Kalen Ballage touches the ball, the game will likely be decided by whether the Texas Tech pass rush can finally dominate a vulnerable opponent.

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