Texas Tech football: DC Keith Patterson has had very Tech-like defenses

6 of 6

(Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images) /

West Virginia 2012-13: Patterson struggles to stop Big 12 offenses in Morgantown

The good news for Texas Tech fans is that Keith Patterson has experience in the Big 12. The bad news is that when he was the defensive coordinator at West Virginia, his defenses were unable to put up much resistance in the nation’s top offensive conference.

In both 2012 and 2013, Patterson failed to field a top-100 defense in the nation. His 2012 squad ranked No.108 overall and his 2013 team was only marginally better at No. 101.

In 2012, the Mountaineers entered the season with national title hopes as a top-5 team. But ultimately, their defense did them in as they stumbled to a 7-6 season.

More from Wreck'Em Red

As Texas Tech fans know, that season turned when WVU made their first-ever trip to Lubbock. In a 49-14 thumping, Seth Doege and the Red Raider offense went off for 676 yards with 508 of those coming through the air. It was one of three 500-yard passing games against the Mountaineers that season.

And in 2013, Tech again beat West Virginia when David Webb passed for 462 yards as part of a 573-yard Red Raider outburst in a 37-27 win. That came just one week after Baylor exploited Patterson’s defense for 872 yards and 73 points.

That season, all but four of West Virginia’s opponents put up at least 400 yards as the Mountaineers went just 4-8. Similar to what Tech fans have experienced too often in recent years, three times in 2013 WVU lost games in which the offense put up at least 40 points. Incredibly, one of those losses (to Baylor) was still by 31 points.

Any way you look at it, Patterson was about as poor at West Virginia as any Red Raider defensive coordinator has been in the last two decades.

Against the pass, his two Mountaineer defenses allowed an average of 287.9 yards per game and ranked on average 112th in the nation. Against the pass, they gave up 175.8 yards per game and ranked on average No. 75, which is not bad but keep in mind that when Big 12 offenses know they can throw the ball at will against a team, that is exactly what they will do.

Overall, 16 of 25 teams that faced a Keith Patterson led WVU defense topped the 30-point mark. That was due in large part to an inability to get to the QB as the Mountaineers had just 17 sacks in 2013 and 21 in 2012.

It is fair to wonder whether Patterson’s blitz-heavy defense is the right way to attack Big 12 offenses. The defenses we’ve seen have the most success in recent years have been ones that utilize an extreme zone or “cloud” coverage that drops eight or even nine players into the passing lanes with regularity such as Iowa State has been doing so effectively under Matt Campbell.

It is also worth considering whether the Red Raiders have the players currently on the roster to even execute Patterson’s scheme the way he would like. After all, Tech lost its top two pass rushers from last year and has only one defensive end or outside linebacker on the roster with more than 1.5 career sacks; junior DE Eli Howard has 9 in two years.

dark. Next. 10 men that caused the decline of Red Raider football

Red Raider fans often got tired of seeing David Gibbs play a bend but don’t break defense as he tried to prevent the big plays and make a stand in the red zone. This year, we are going to see what the alternative looks like as Wells has said he wants his defense to play aggressively and move forward at the snap of the ball instead of backward. Here’s hoping that Patterson has better results with that plan in his second go-around in the top passing conference in the nation.

Home/Texas Tech Football