Texas Tech football: Forgotten players that could be factors in 2020

DE Gilbert Ibeneme

Texas Tech hasn’t signed all that many 4-star defensive ends in the last 20 years.  That’s why Gilbert Ibeneme was a huge pickup when he inked his letter of intent in the class of 2019.

Unfortunately, a shoulder injury kept him from even seeing the field for a single snap as a true freshman.  He was one of the early casualties of fall camp, something that seems to befall every program on an annual basis.

Without question, his team could have used his services.  We saw on a nearly weekly basis how the Red Raider defense wilted in the second half as the lack of depth, especially on the defensive line, took its toll over the course of the game.

Over the last ten games of the season, all against Power 5 opponents, Tech gave up an average of 16.2 points per game in the first half and 18.5 in the second.  Though that disparity isn’t enough to make one’s jaw hit the floor, it does show that the defense got weaker as the game progressed.

There was the Kansas game, in which the Jayhawks rattled off 17 fourth-quarter points.  Against Baylor, Tech allowed 20 points in the fourth quarter and the two OT periods.  Oklahoma State scored 14 in the final quarter of their loss in Lubbock and Arizona dominated the final period with 15 unanswered points to put the Red Raiders away.

Ibeneme may be able to help keep that from happening.  Now up to 275 pounds, the 6-foot-3 defensive end is big enough to play the five-technique at the Big 12 level and he could be a surprise pass rush factor as his pedigree coming out of high school might suggest.

Rated the No. 33 strongside DE in the nation and the No. 65 player in Texas by the 2019 247Spots composite rankings when he signed, he was the bell cow of Matt Well’s first recruiting class.  But since then, he’s been out of sight and out of mind for most fans.  Here’s hoping he reenters the Texas Tech football consciousness in a huge way in 2020.