Texas Tech Football receives Week One recognition

By VF Castro | Sep 5, 2017

ARLINGTON, TX - NOVEMBER 25: Head coach Kliff Kingsbury of the Texas Tech Red Raiders on the field before the game against the Baylor Bears on November 25, 2016 at AT /

Week One football recognitions are often viewed through a similar scope as preseason rankings, but for Texas Tech Football, the recognition is right where it needs to be.

Texas Tech Football has a history of solid starts to kickoff the season, but rarely does the team perform so noticeably well in several areas, that people outside the conference recognize it. For Texas Tech, its 56-10 victory over FCS powerhouse Eastern Washington, was unlike wins in the past.

For years now, Tech’s high octane offense has been bolstered by its quarterbacks and wide receivers, only to be disappointed by defensive failures. Last season to open the season against Stephen F. Austin, the Red Raiders put up 758 total yards of offense, of which, 633 were in the air, and 125 on the ground. For most, that looked like business as usual in Lubbock, but the reality was, Tech overcompensated in the passing game to make up for its inability to run the ball effectively.

Quick strikes and fast scoring drives are great, but without an effective run game, it makes it particularly difficult to control the time and tempo, which makes defensive recoveries between drives problematic.

Against Eastern Washington last Saturday, Texas Tech ran a balanced offense, capped by a defensive performance that’s enough to have confidence in the skill and competency moving forward.

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Texas Tech had 449 yards passing, and 177 yards rushing on Saturday. The rushing yards weren’t a significant improvement, however, Tech had two rushing touchdowns against EWU, compared to a single TD run against SFA last season. The more weapons Texas Tech Football has on the field, the harder the offense is to defend. Likewise, the more elusive the offense becomes, the better it will prepare the defense in practice.

In preparation for the game, DT Broderick Washington likened Eastern Washington QB Gage Gubrud to Patrick Mahomes, in terms of his speed and ability to air the football. EWU beat former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach’s Washington State Cougars to open the season last year, so this wasn’t an opponent Tech took lightly, however, Tech knew it had the training necessary to pull off a win.

Defensively against SFA, Tech allowed 370 total yards, but against Eastern Washington’s potent offense, Tech allowed just 301 total yards of offense, and held them to just 10 points, blanking them through three quarters. The biggest differences in this game, were the defenses ability to wrap up defenders, prevent yards after catches, and swarm the backfield–all of which were drastic improvements from last year.

For the team effort, Texas Tech Football received four AP Poll votes after Week One. West Virginia and Texas dropped out of the Poll, and TCU edged itself into the Poll following its 63-0 victory against Jackson State.

Texas Tech has a bye this week in preparation for Arizona State on Sept. 16. Much like with losses, the team needs to treat the win over EWU with the same short-term memory, and focus on areas where they lost the battle–which includes cleaning up penalties.

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