Texas Tech football: Players to watch against UTEP
When the Texas Tech football team squares off with UTEP tonight at Jones Stadium, keep an eye on these players because they need to have a strong week-two showing.
Week two of the Matt Wells era of Texas Tech football is upon us. And certainly, it will be hard for his team to be any more dominant than it was in his debut.
Tech’s 35-point win over Montana State was the program’s third 30-point season-opening win in the last four years. Of course, all three of those wins came against FCS teams while the fourth game in that span was a 20-point loss to Ole Miss last year.
Fortunately, tonight’s opponent will look more like an FCS team than one from the SEC. In fact, it’s hard to imagine this year’s UTEP team being able to win the FCS championship…or the Lubbock ISD Jr. High school league title for that matter after going 1-23 in the last two seasons.
Should this game unfold the way most expect, the Miners’ run of futility against the Red Raiders will reach eight-straight games. In fact, the other team from West Texas has not tasted victory against Tech since a 26-14 win at the Sun Bowl in 1957. That was just twelve years after the end of WWII and it was 12 years prior to the moon landing.
Jones Stadium has not been kind to UTEP in recent years. In their last four trips to the South Plains, the Miners have lost by an average score of 46-15. The 45-31 Red Raider win in 2007 was the closest UTEP has come to leaving Lubbock victorious since 1956.
It would surprise no one if that trend continues tonight. Tech is around a 35-point favorite meaning that an upset would rank among the largest in program history.
But there should be no reason for this to be a so-called trap game. That’s because the second game under new coaching staff should be no time for complacency to rear its head.
There are still plenty of Red Raiders trying to prove their worth and earn key roles on this team before the arrival of Big 12 play. Meanwhile, the veterans and established starters no doubt have their share of kinks to work out as they try to perfect new schemes on both sides of the ball.
We saw a fantastic return to action for sophomore QB Alan Bowman in week one. Playing his first football game since the ninth week of the 2018 season, he threw for 436 to lead the nation in week one while also completing 75.5% of his passes. Those are astounding numbers considering that he’s operating a completely different system than the one he learned as a true freshman.
Grad transfer RB Armand Shyne made quite the first impression with 125 yards, including a 69-yard TD. It appears that his presence will help stabilize a running back position that entered the season with tons of questions after suffering key defections and graduations in the offseason.
On defense, a couple of familiar names came up huge. Senior LB Jordyn Brooks led the team with 11 tackles while senior DT Broderick Washington had 1.5 tackles for loss.
But as we turn our attention to week two, there are still several Red Raiders that will be looking to make their first true mark on the young season and show that they are ready to play key roles. Here are some players to watch tonight as the Red Raiders continue the process of becoming what we hope will be a quality team in year-one of the Matt Wells experience.