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Texas Tech football: 3 ways the Red Raider defense can improve from week one

By Matthew Conner

LUBBOCK, TEXAS - SEPTEMBER 07: Defensive coordinator Keith Patterson of Texas Tech gives instructions during warmups before the college football game between the Texas Tech Red Raiders and the UTEP Miners on September 07, 2019 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
LUBBOCK, TEXAS - SEPTEMBER 07: Defensive coordinator Keith Patterson of Texas Tech gives instructions during warmups before the college football game between the Texas Tech Red Raiders and the UTEP Miners on September 07, 2019 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images) /
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Quarterback Bailey Zappe #4 of the Houston Baptist Huskies passes the ball during the second half of the college football game against the Texas Tech Red Raiders on September 12, 2020 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
Quarterback Bailey Zappe #4 of the Houston Baptist Huskies passes the ball during the second half of the college football game against the Texas Tech Red Raiders on September 12, 2020 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images) /

Stop putting defensive backs on an island

The next solution is one that likely isn’t going to happen because Keith Patterson seems to be intent on playing man-to-man coverage quite often.  But if he would stop putting his defensive backs on an island and start utilizing zone coverage as his primary means of survival, it would do wonders for this defense.

The final huge scoring pass that HBU connected on, a 75-yard strike in the fourth quarter, was simply a case of a fast receiver running right past safety Thomas Leggett.  Patterson should have known better.

We saw time and again in 2019 that Leggett is not fast enough to play man coverage.  So HBU offensive coordinator Zach Kittley had to be licking his chops when he saw Tech in man coverage on Saturday.

But it isn’t just Leggett who is a liability in man coverage.  The truth is that none of the Red Raider defensive backs are good enough to hang with elite receivers, or even receivers with elite speed, in one-on-one situations.

The problem is that no matter how often his DBs were burned last year, Patterson stubbornly refused to stop asking his secondary to play on islands.  Thus, that’s not likely going to change this year as the defensive coordinator loves to blitz and take his chances on the back end.  But if he would stop putting players who can’t cover one-on-one in a position to fail, it might give the defense a fighting shot in 2020.

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