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Texas Tech football: Storylines to monitor in the season opener

By Matthew Conner

LUBBOCK, TX - OCTOBER 20: Alan Bowman #10 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders calls signals at the line of scrimmage during the first half of the game against the Kansas Jayhawks on October 20, 2018 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images)
LUBBOCK, TX - OCTOBER 20: Alan Bowman #10 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders calls signals at the line of scrimmage during the first half of the game against the Kansas Jayhawks on October 20, 2018 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images) /
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Seth Collins #22 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders on the sidelines during the game against the Kansas Jayhawks on October 20, 2018 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. Texas Tech defeated Kansas 48-16. (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images)
Seth Collins #22 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders on the sidelines during the game against the Kansas Jayhawks on October 20, 2018 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. Texas Tech defeated Kansas 48-16. (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images) /

How will players returning from injury perform?

The 2020 Red Raiders will be depending heavily on a handful of players that missed significant time in 2019 and how those individuals perform on Saturday night will be worth watching.

Most obvious is the return of QB Alan Bowman who missed all but three games last fall.  This is the second-straight season in which he’s had to make a comeback from a significant injury and how he plays on Saturday night will be the most important development of the evening.

At times last year, Bowman looked uncomfortable in the pocket as too often he drifted away from the line of scrimmage and threw off of his back foot instead of stepping up and making strong throws in the face of the pass rush.  We have to assume that the remnants of 2018’s two collapsed lung occurrences played a huge role in his uneasiness in the pocket and we will be watching to see if he looks more confident this year on the heels of a broken collar bone that came as a result of another huge hit he sustained in the pocket.

It will be more difficult to evaluate Tech’s other returning star, Jack Anderson, given that he plays right guard, a position that is hard for fans to fixate on as a game unfolds.  But his return to form could be almost as critical as Bowman’s.

Remember that Anderson will be lining up next to a new starting tackle this weekend so we should simply keep the right side of the offensive line in the back of our minds as this game moves along.  Look to see if he and tackle Josh Burger can work together to prevent the Huskies from getting consistent pressure on that side of the line.

We will also be watching to see the return of WR Seth Collins, IR Dalton Rigdon, RB Xavier White, DE Gilbert Ibeneme (who missed all of last season due to injury and who will presumably be making his Red Raider debut this weekend), and QB Maverick McIvor (who also did not play as a true freshman last year because of injury).  Monitoring how these players look after extended absences is going to be intriguing, especially given the lack of a spring session and the unusual nature of this offseason.

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