Texas Tech football: 3 players with the most to gain vs. Oklahoma

This week’s nationally televised game against Oklahoma will be tough but with so many eyes on Norman, there will be an opportunity for some Texas Tech football players to make a name for themselves with a good game.

Any time the Red Raiders and the Sooners meet on the gridiron, it feels like Tech is viewed by the media as something between an afterthought and a nuisance.  That’s especially true this year with the Texas Tech football team lacking any national star power and playing without its starting QB, Alan Bowman and OU at No. 6 in the polls.

On today’s broadcast, the only thing we may hear more often than the effusive praise that will be heaped upon Lincoln Riley and his QB Jalen Hurts will be the OU fight song, seemingly the only tune the Sooner band knows.  Hurts is the latest superstar to don the crimson and cream and perhaps no program in the nation has had more individual star power than Oklahoma and it’s no wonder given how well they recruit.

Though the last three star OU quarterbacks have each been transfers, the bread-and-butter of their program has always been top-level recruiting.   Almost every year the Sooners have a recruiting class that would be the envy of all but a handful of programs in the nation.

To understand why Tech is so far behind the Big 12’s dominant program, we have to look no further than the recent recruiting rankings of both teams. Though there will always be hits or misses on that front, it is far more likely for a program to find star power when fishing in the deepest pools possible as does Oklahoma.

Since 2016, the Sooners have signed 56 players that were rated either a four or a five-star prospect.  In the same time period, Tech has signed a mere four.

While Tech has had nice success in turning unheralded recruits into stars, the backbone of these programs are comprised of vastly different levels of players.  Where OU has the true advantage over most teams in the Big 12 is that because of how well they recruit, their role players are often good enough to start for other teams (though not necessarily their defensive players in the last couple of seasons).

When injuries strike, as was the case last year at the running back spot, they simply plugged Trey Sermon (a former 4-star recruit) into the starting lineup and didn’t miss a beat despite losing the starter, Rodney Anderson.  Whereas an injury like that usually devastates most normal programs, in Norman the next superstar is simply waiting on the sidelines for his chance to be discovered.

For the Red Raiders, going head to head with OU this week will be an opportunity to test their game against the best the Big 12 has to offer.  Lincoln Riley could make a case for having the best quarterback, running back, wide receiver, and offensive line in the conference and now many believe the Sooner defense is at least back up to par with the other defenses in this league.

This is obviously a day when Tech needs its best players to come up big.  For instance, T.J. Vasher needs to be able to lead the way in the passing game.  Tech’s leading receiver will receive plenty of attention from the Sooners but he must be able to get open and make tough catches to help out his two backup quarterbacks.

Likewise, we will need another stellar game from middle linebacker Jordyn Brooks.  Expect him to spy Jalen Hurts just as he did Khalil Tate in Arizona.  Hurts is much bigger than Tate but nowhere near as fast.  Where Tate had success against Brooks was in running outside where his speed could help him get away but Hurts runs quite a bit up the middle and often looks to initiate contact.  In that scenario, you have to like Brook’s chances.

With Bowman out, Vasher and Brooks are the most recognizable Texas Tech names (at least on a national scale) and should they play well, they will not vault from obscurity to stardom.  But there are several players that will have an opportunity to open the nation’s eyes and cement their roles on this year’s team by playing well this week in Norman.  If these players show up and make an impact on the game, they may go from just being a name to Red Raider fans know to one that is recognizable to much of the college football landscape.