Texas Tech football: DE Nelson Mbanasor announces intentions to transfer

Nelson Mbanasor, a redshirt defensive end and one-time prized recruit announced on Thursday that he intends to transfer from the Texas Tech football program.

The Texas Tech football team is losing a player once thought to be a key piece of the future.  Nelson Mbanasor, a redshirt freshman defensive end from Pflugerville, Texas announced Thursday that he intends to leave the program.

This year, the 6-foot-3, 280-pounder has appeared in six games registering nine tackles and recovering a fumble.  But while his loss will not be felt immediately, it could be a blow to the future plans of the Red Raider defense.

The former 3-star prospect was expected to be one of the foundational pieces of the defense in future seasons thanks to his versatility.  Possessing the size to play on the interior of the line and the athleticism to rush the passer off the edge, Mbanasor’s potential was tantalizing to both fans and the Texas Tech coaching staff.

In fact, in during the offseason, defensive coordinator David Gibbs praised Mbanasor and talked about how he had been talented enough to play as a true freshman.  Entering the season, many expected the redshirt freshman to be a factor in the pass rush which was been an area of concern for the Red Raiders for quite some time.

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But this year, he did not make the type of impact that most had hoped. He’s had no more than two tackles in a game coming up with a pair of stops against Kansas, Iowa State and Texas.  And his most impactful play of the year was a fumble recovery in the week-two 77-0 shutout of FCS weakling Lamar.

Now, the question facing the Red Raiders remains the same as it has been for the majority of the “Air Raid” era.  Where will the pass rush come from next year?

The Red Raiders will lose Tony Jones (who leads the team with 4.0 sacks this year) and Kolin Hill (3.0 sacks) leaving redshirt sophomore Eli Howard (3.5 sacks) as the only proven pass-rush threat on the roster.  This means that a player like junior Lonzell Gilmore, who has only 1.5 career sacks, will likely be called upon to be a bigger force off of the edge next year. Also, look for a player like sophomore Houston Miller, a former prized recruit out of Keller, Texas, to be pressed into action after playing sparingly in his first two seasons.

The Red Raiders also have three highly-regarded high school defensive ends committed to the 2019 class.  Stephen Parker of Dallas and Gilbert Ibeneme of Pearland are four-star recruits and Tony Bradford Jr. from Houston is a three-star recruit.  The loss of Mbanasor likely means that at lest one of those players will have to play as a true freshman.

This year, the Red Raiders have again struggled to get to the quarterback.  Tech ranks 4th in the Big 12 with 22 sacks, but five of those came in the team’s most recent game against Texas.

Last season, Tech finished last in the conference with just 18 sacks in 13 games.  The year prior, Tech was also worst in the league with a mere 14 sacks in twelve games.

Now, one of the players that was supposed to alleviate that problem is leaving the program.  Once again, it appears that the never-ending search for a consistent pass rush is likely to continue into perpetuity on the South Plains.