Texas Tech football: Position groups that will be improved in 2020
When the Texas Tech football team finally returns to the field this fall, expect these position groups to be improved over what we saw last season.
One of the unique aspects of the game of football is the specialization of the different position groups. Much like the various parts of the body, each position group has to do its job in order for everything to work the way it is supposed to. Unfortunately, in 2019 too much of the Texas Tech football body didn’t hold up.
It will be important for those position groups that didn’t perform up to par last fall to take a step forward this year and that begins in the offseason conditioning program as well as spring practice. But of course, those aspects of the college football season have been put in doubt thanks to the coronavirus outbreak.
Still, Tech has to find a way to improve if this program is going to finally put an end to its streak of four straight losing seasons. And it appears there’s a way to go in that regard.
When looking at the official Big 12 team stats, out of 31 categories that were listed, Tech led the conference in just two, passing yards and punting. That’s not indicative of a good team, which we know the Red Raiders were not in Matt Wells’s first year as head coach.
Now, year-two for the Wells era is approaching, virus or not, and it is going to be a critical season. With seven home games, five being conference contests, and visits from Baylor, Texas, Oklahoma, West Virginia, and Arizona, the Red Raiders will have plenty of opportunities to start winning back the home fan base after dropping three of four home conference contests last year to continue the program’s inexplicable struggle to win at home.
That has to be the priority for this year. The last two home games of last year were played in front of crowds that struggled to surpass 35,000 fans and it has become obvious that the Red Raider faithful are starting to lose the passion and vigor that just a decade ago made Jones Stadium one of the most intimidating places to play in the nation.
Of course, winning cures all and if Wells can guide his team to at least a 7-6 season, he will curry plenty of favor with fans that are skeptical about his ability to turn the program around. And if that’s what he does in 2020, the following position groups will likely have taken a step forward over where they were last year.