Texas Tech football: What we still don’t know about the Red Raiders
As the Texas Tech football team prepares for its first real test of the season this week, there are some important questions that persist about this year’s squad.
After two weeks of the Matt Wells era, the good news is that the Red Raiders are 2-0. But because the Texas Tech football team has played two opponents (Montana State and UTEP) that were utterly incapable of putting up a fight, we know about as much about this year’s team as we would know had Tech simply had two scrimmages against the Lubbock ISD junior varsity all-stars.
That should change this Saturday when the Red Raiders leave the comfortable confines of Jones Stadium for a Pac-12 after dark showdown with Arizona. Hopefully, this goes better than the last time we saw Tech take on a team from the Grand Canyon State in a road night game.
Back in 2016, the Red Raiders went to Tempe to face Arizona State. In the 68-55 Sun Devil win, Tech surrendered 651 total yards and allowed ASU running back Kalen Ballage to score eight touchdowns (which tied the NCAA single-game record).
That was one of just two non-conference regular-season losses Tech has suffered since 2010. The other came two years earlier when Arkansas took down the Red Raiders 49-28 in Lubbock.
Now, it will be fascinating to see how this team fares in its first road contest under Wells. The weekend will be full of new routines and procedures for the Red Raiders as they leave home for the first time under their current coaching staff, a factor that makes the task of beating the Wildcats a bit more difficult.
Though this is the first year Wells has been a Power 5 head coach, it will not be his first road game against a major conference opponent. In his six years at Utah State, Wells took his team to Tennessee, USC, Utah, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Wake Forest but as the prohibitive underdog in each of those games, Wells went 0-6, thus skewing his overall road record.
So far, the 45-year-old has his current team off to a solid start. After two games, Tech is tied with Alabama for No. 9 in the nation in total offense with 557.5 yards per game. What’s more, Wells’ team is also No. 9 overall in total defense by allowing just 210 yards per game. In both categories, Tech is second in the Big 12 trailing Oklahoma State in total offense and Kansas State in total defense.
Meanwhile, the Red Raiders lead the conference and are tied for No. 3 nationally (again with Alabama) in scoring defense. Tech’s giving up just 6.5 points per game, half of a point less than Kansas State and TCU are giving up.
But the opponents we’ve seen this team demolish have looked like they would struggle to even spell the word touchdown much less score one. That’s why this game against Arizona is so intriguing.
The Wildcats are 1-1 with a loss at Hawaii and a win at home over Northern Arizona. Currently, Kevin Sumlin’s team sits at No. 6 overall in total offense (629.5 yards per game) but just No. 123 in total defense (518.5 yards per game).
This will be the first team on the 2019 schedule that can put an end to the good vibes and unbridled optimism that has been flowing from the majority of the fan base during the first fortnight of Wells’ tenure. But regardless of what happens Saturday night in the desert, we are likely going to begin to get answers about some of the questions that we still have about this Red Raider team.