Texas Tech football: Three Arizona offensive weapons to be aware of
Inside receiver Tayvian Cunningham
There are two Arizona receivers leading the team with nearly identical stats, Tayvian Cunningham and Stanley Berryhill. Cunningham has seven receptions for 123 yards and two touchdowns while Berryhill has the same number of catches for three fewer yards and one less score.
Let’s take a closer look at Cunningham because he’s a player that could be a matchup problem in the slot. The 5-foot-7, 181-pound junior was a track and football star in the JUCO ranks and now he is proving to be a weapon for Sumlin’s team.
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In his debut, he had four receptions for 65 yards and he followed that up with a 3-catch, 58-yard, two-touchdown performance against Northern Arizona. In that game, his 47-yard TD reception opened the scoring and his 8-yard TD put his team up 35-7 in the second quarter.
"“He’s continuing to get better, continuing to figure it out,” Sumlin told the Tucson Sun. “He hasn’t played a lot of football. But I think you can see his explosiveness. I like where he is, and I like where he’s headed.”"
What makes Cunningham so lethal is his elite speed. He will be a sprinter for the Arizona track team this spring where his 10.47-second 100-meter dash will be on display.
It will be fascinating to see how Tech handles such an explosive inside the receiver. After all, we haven’t seen one yet this year. What’s more, Tech will have a similar player in the slot in sophomore Dalton Rigdon, also a track and football star. Which of these two-sport standouts comes up biggest could be telling in the matchup.
Next. The all-time Red Raider football team from out of state. dark
This is where it is a luxury for Tech to have so many capable and experienced defensive backs on the roster. We will see a ton of speedy slot receivers in Big 12 play so how the Raiders cope with Cunningham could give us an idea of how Tech will look to neutralize the position that has revolutionized the game over the last two decades.