Texas Tech football: 2020 Red Raiders have somehow become worse in these areas

Pass defense

In 2019, the Red Raiders were the third-worst team in the nation against the pass.  Allowing 307.8 yards per game through the air, they were an absolute disaster when trying to stop pass-happy Big 12 offenses.

But this year, we were told that a veteran secondary and some position shuffling among that group was going to yield better results.  That’s not proven to be the case through four games.

Somehow, the Red Raiders are giving up even more yards through the air this season than they did last season.  At 335.5 yards allowed, they are again last in the Big 12 and fourth-worst in the nation.

Two of the four opponents this year have passed for more than 300 yards.  That includes FCS opponent Houston Baptist, which racked up 567 yards in the season opener.

Also, keep in mind that Tech is yet to face some of the top passing teams in the Big 12.   In fact, each of Tech’s next three opponents, West Virginia, Oklahoma, and TCU are in the top half of the conference in passing offense.

Plenty of changes were made over the offseason to try to beef up the Red Raider secondary.  LSU transfer safety Eric Monroe was handed a starting job, Adrian Frye was moved back to corner, the “spur” position became primarily a fifth defensive back, Derek Jones was brought in to coach the corners, and defensive coordinator Keith Patterson took over the responsibility of coaching the safeties.

None of those moves have proved to be impactful.  In fact, you could argue that this year’s secondary is worse than last year’s, and given that the 2019 group was one of the worst in program history, that’s hard to fathom.