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Texas Tech football: Predictions for the Red Raiders in 2019

By Matthew Conner

LUBBOCK, TX - OCTOBER 20: T.J. Vasher #9 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders makes the catch for a touchdown against Corione Harris #2 of the Kansas Jayhawks during the first half of the game on October 20, 2018 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images)
LUBBOCK, TX - OCTOBER 20: T.J. Vasher #9 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders makes the catch for a touchdown against Corione Harris #2 of the Kansas Jayhawks during the first half of the game on October 20, 2018 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images) /
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Tech will field a top-90 defense

The bar for new defensive coordinator Keith Patterson is rather low.  Trying to put together the best Tech defense in the last decade is akin to trying to be the fastest turtle.

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While I am skeptical of his track record and his ability to build a defense that annually ranks in the top half nationally, I can see his unit finishing in the top-90 this year.  Big deal…right?

Well, that would be a jump of 29 places from last year, which would be a welcome improvement.  And a top-90 defense in 2019 would be only the third time that the Raiders have been even that highly-ranked in this decade.

Some believe that the defense is actually less questionable than the offense as the season begins.  And during fall camp, Matt Wells said on more than one occasion that the defense was the more impressive side of the ball in practices.

There is no shortage of individual talent with the likes of Broderick Washington, Jordyn Brooks, Eli Howard, Douglas Coleman, Riko Jeffers, and Adrian Frye.  But the question is whether or not Patterson has the parts needed to build the kind of defense he wants to run.

After playing in a bend but don’t break scheme for the last four years, Tech may not have all the right components to play an attacking, blitzing style.  That’s why Patterson will be relying heavily on as many as three graduate transfers to help him Frankenstein together his defense this fall.

Fortunately, this looks like a year in which the Big 12 won’t be as brutal on defensive coordinators.  None of the three other new coaches will have offensive juggernauts this year as all three lack the talent to light up the scoreboard and the new head coaches at both Kansas schools are not known for being offensive innovators or even tepid fans of the forward pass.

We’ve talked about TCU’s QB issues.  Texas doesn’t run a scheme that piles up the yards and neither does Iowa State as both teams will look to rely more heavily on their defenses.  The two Oklahoma schools will be a handful on offense and Baylor will rack up its share of yards but overall, the Big 12 shouldn’t be the type of Indy Car field that we’ve come to expect.

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That’s why Tech might be able to get into the top 90 nationally.  While that might not seem like much to celebrate, just imagine how different this program would look if Pat Mahomes would have had a top 90 defense while he was in Lubbock.  Here’s hoping Patterson can give Alan Bowman one in 2019.

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