Texas Tech Football held a scrimmage to cap its first week of Fall Camp, but one player emerged on the offensive side of the ball that has tremendous potential.
One of the storylines for Texas Tech Football following last season was whether it would be able to establish a run game strong enough to give the defense some breathing room. For Texas Tech junior running back Desmond Nisby, however, Week One of Fall Camp has him emerging as lethal weapon.
Prior to Saturdays scrimmage, Nisby was one of the top rated running backs in the (San Francisco, Calif.) Bay Area. In two seasons at the JuCo ranks at Diablo Valley College, Nisby had 285 carries, where he rushed for 1,250 yards, and 12 touchdowns.
The 6-foot-1, 235 pound back was a three-star recruit, who chose Texas Tech over schools like BYU, Iowa State, Kansas, and UAB.
Nisby was actually committed to UAB back in August of last year, however, when Texas Tech offered in December, he flipped and signed his letter of intent in February to play for the Red Raiders.
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Offensive highlights from the scrimmage included a touchdown run by senior running backs, Caleb Woodward and Justin Stockton. However, it was Nisby that proved to be that big-bodied power back many expected him to become when he was signed.
In the post-scrimmage media availability, head coach Kliff Kingsbury said the rushing numbers were “not bad,” and, “We didn’t have a ton of reps at it, but I thought Justin [Stockton] finished runs tough inside, and [Desmond] Nisby is going to be a big back that we can hopefully do some stuff with.”
With Texas Tech lacking true tight ends, expect to see Nisby in a lot of situations where he’s used as a lead blocker throughout the season.
Andrew Doak of Lubbock’s KAMC Tweeted Nisby’s highlight tape:
Get to know #TexasTech RB Desmond Nisby. I've got a feeling you're going to hear his name a lot this upcoming year.#TruckStick #WreckEm pic.twitter.com/89tMAyWDih
— Andrew Doak (@AndrewPDoak) August 5, 2017
While several of Tech’s starting defenders were sitting out due to precautionary reasons, watching Nisby truck through defenders should excite the fan base. West Virginia had the Big 12’s third best defense last season– a game Texas Tech lost 48-17 at home–and (arguably), Tech’s “rock bottom” moment in the Kingsbury Era. With West Virginia returning just three players from last year’s defensive squad in 2017, Nisby could emerge as “nightmare player” against teams who might have an established system, but are in a rebuilding phase.
Despite the quickness of Da’Leon Ward, Demarcus Felton, Justin Stockton, and Caleb Woodward, a player like Nisby is something the Texas Tech defense hasn’t really had to practice against since the departure of DeAndre Washington.
Washington’s size made him terrifically elusive, but with Nisby trucking defenders, he could help fix the porous defensive line by giving them in-practice scenarios they’ll be facing every Saturday.
Texas Tech has an abundance of offensive talent to work with this upcoming season, and as Fall Camp continues, we can only hope the offense continues to challenge (and improve) the defense.