Wreck'Em Red
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Texas Tech football team has bigger problems than the QB position

By Matthew Conner

NORMAN, OK - SEPTEMBER 28: Quarterback Jett Duffey #7 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders throws under pressure from defensive lineman Marquise Overton #97 of the Oklahoma Sooners at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on September 28, 2019 in Norman, Oklahoma. The Sooners defeated the Red Raiders 55-16. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images)
NORMAN, OK - SEPTEMBER 28: Quarterback Jett Duffey #7 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders throws under pressure from defensive lineman Marquise Overton #97 of the Oklahoma Sooners at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on September 28, 2019 in Norman, Oklahoma. The Sooners defeated the Red Raiders 55-16. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /

This offensive line has tons of experience…but so what?

The next time we see a broadcast crew put up the graphic about how this year’s offensive line has over 100 career starts between them, I might throw my shoe at my television.  The fact that this sub-par unit has played a lot of sub-par football together over the years doesn’t make it worth a flip.

This line has three seniors and an All-Big 12 junior among its starting five but it is one of the weaknesses of the team and that’s been the case for the last three seasons.  Just consider that last year the line was partly responsible for the hit that resulted in Bowman’s first collapsed lung of the season and allowed a blitzing linebacker to crush him three weeks ago in Arizona leading to his shoulder injury.  The line isn’t giving up a ton of sacks but anyone watching the games can see how uncomfortable the QBs have been in the pocket.

What’s even more concerning is that the line is proving incapable of opening up holes in the running game either.  That is what’s really killing this team, not the QB play.

We all expected the offense to suffer through the air with Bowman sidelined.  However, we were told this offseason that Tech was going to run the ball when it wanted to, unlike in years past.

Currently, Tech sits sixth in the Big 12 in rushing offense at 173.5 yards per game.   That seems decent but stop to consider that in the two games Tech has played against Power 5 teams, that number has dropped to 148 yards per contest.  And those games came against two defenses that are far from elite.

Whether it has been the fact that Tech has yet to figure out how to block a 3-man front against a Power 5 defense in the passing game or open holes with any consistency on the ground, the supposed advantage this team was counting on this year on the ground has been non-existent.  That’s an area of the game that needs to be far stronger regardless of who the QB is but based on what we’ve seen over the last two-plus years, that doesn’t seem likely in 2019.

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