Texas Tech football: Duffey’s legs may give Texas defense fits

Sophomore quarterback Jett Duffey will be making his second start of the season for the Texas Tech football team in all likelihood Saturday against Texas.  His ability to run could be a huge weapon against a Texas defense that has been run on by other quarterbacks this year.

This Saturday, sophomore quarterback Jett Duffey is expected to make his second career start for the Texas Tech football team when the Texas Longhorns come to Lubbock.  While every Red Raider fan would rather see starting quarterback Alan Bowman leading the offense, Duffey’s ability to run the football could be a huge advantage against a Longhorn defense that has given up some yards to other mobile quarterbacks this season.

Thus far, Duffey has seen significant and meaningful action in three games, West Virginia, TCU and Oklahoma.  Against the Mountaineers, he ran 15 times for 86 yards and a touchdown while almost brining his team back from a 35-7 halftime deficit.

In Texas Tech’s next game against TCU, Duffey ran for 83 yards including the game-winning TD on a 38-yard designed QB draw.  And last week, he ran for 46 yards and a touchdown playing in the second half against Oklahoma.

On the season, he is Texas Tech’s second-leading rusher with 257 yards despite seeing action in only five games.  He leads the team with an average of 5.7 yards per carry and is third on the team with four rushing scores.

That could be good news for the Red Riders in two different ways.  First, Texas has been susceptible to the quarterback ground game at times this year.

Three different QB’s have had success with their legs when facing the Texas defense.  Tulsa’s Luke Skipper ran for 54 yards on 7 carries, TCU’s Shawn Robinson ran for 57 yards on nine rushes while Oklahoma QB Kyler Murray racked up 92 yards and a touchdown in the Cotton Bowl.

Overall, the Texas defense is solid against the run ranking fourth in the league at 144.2 yards per game.  But at times, the Horns have allowed some big runs including a 67-yard scamper by Murray.  They average giving up 4.1 yards per carry which is good for only sixth in the conference.

Secondly, while the Red Raider offense may not be as potent with Duffey running the show than it would be with Alan Bowman at the helm, his legs could help invigorate a ground game that has become dormant in recent weeks.

Since the September 22nd win over Oklahoma State in which Texas Tech ran for 224 total yards, Tech has not had a 100-yard rusher.  What’s more, the production from the running backs has waned even as first-string running back Da’Leon Ward has returned to health.

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In the last two games, Ward has been the team’s leading rusher but averaged just 34.5 yards per game.  By contrast, when Duffy has played, he’s been the team’s most dangerous ground threat.  He was the team’s leading rusher in both the West Virginia and TCU games.

The Texas Tech ground game has fallen to 8th in the Big 12 at 146.6 yards per game and Tech’s 3.8 yards per carry rank ahead of just Iowa State.  Duffey, (whose 38-yard TD run to beat TCU is the team’s longest carry of the season) and his 5.7 yards per carry could be able to bring new life into a Red Raider ground game that has struggled despite the fact that opposing defenses enter each game primarily concerned with the passing game.

However, Duffey will have to complete enough passes to make the Horns respect his arm.  In his last two meaningful appearances (TCU and OU), he has struggled completing just 24 of 41 attempts for just a 58.1% completion percentage.

That is where Kingsbury must prove worthy of the offensive genius label he has been given by many and design a game plan that puts his backup quarterback in a better position than he was in last week.  After learning just prior to the end of intermission that Bowman would not be able to finish the game, Kingsbury did not seem to have time to adjust the team’s game plan to suit Duffey’s skills.

"“I didn’t give him good plays early, things he’s comfortable with.” Kingsbury said following the loss to the Sooners.  “That’s a tough spot he’s thrown into once again and he competes and gives us a chance so I was proud of his effort.”"

This week’s chess match between Kingsbury and Texas defensive coordinator Todd Orlando will be fascinating to watch.  Certainly, Orlando will have one of his extremely athletic linebackers, probably senior Gary Johnson, spy on Duffey for most of the game.  But Kingsbury has to find a way to utilize Duffey’s best asset to spark a rushing attack that must be resurrected with Alan Bowman sidelined for the foreseeable future.