Texas Tech football: Statistical reasons Tech lost to UT

Texas Tech could not run the football effectively

One surprising development from Saturday was the fact that the Red Raiders simply could not run the football with any effectiveness for most of the afternoon.  That was surprising given that the interior of the offensive line is supposed to be the best component of the offense.

For the game, Tech ran for just 116 yards on 24 carries.  While that was an average of 4.8 yards per attempt, those numbers are a bit misleading.

That’s because 75 of those yards came on SaRodorick Thompson’s fourth-quarter TD run.  Take that play out of the equation and the Red Raiders averaged just 1.7 yards per carry.

In week one, the ground game was able to salt away the win over Houston Baptist.  That gave us the false impression that Tech may have the potential for a dominant rushing attack.

But facing the Longhorns, Tech was continually stymied by just a four-man defensive line that stopped Thompson and the other Red Raider RBs without much support from the linebackers or safeties.  That was disappointing for sure.

Tech did see both center Dawson Deaton and left guard Weston Wright leave the game for stretches after being banged up.  But even prior to that, Tech could not move the ball between the tackles.

What’s more, Thompson’s long run didn’t come up the middle.  Rather, it was a play that he bounced to the outside after being bottled up at the line of scrimmage.  What’s more, the offensive line doesn’t deserve too much credit for that run as Thompson had to pull a Houdini to break free from a gaggle of would-be tacklers.

The lack of a ground game against a supposed elite team was a disappointing turn on Saturday.  It’s certainly an area Tech must address moving forward because this offense can’t afford to be a one-dimensional as it was against the Horns.