Texas Tech football: What Texas Tech has to do to beat TCU

Don’t ask too much of Henry Colombi

One of the biggest storylines of this game is Texas Tech offensive coordinator Sonny Cumbie facing his former employer and the architect of the TCU defense, Gary Patterson.  But while we would all love to see Cumbie’s offense light up the Frogs with an aerial assault reminiscent of the halcyon days of the “Air Raid” offense, the reality today is that Cumbie can’t put too much of this game on the shoulders of his backup QB, Henry Colombi.

Remember, TCU runs an exotic 3-3-5 defense that morphs and shifts from play to play.  And that defense is predicated on using its three safeties to confuse opposing quarterbacks.

Unfortunately, last year, that scheme held Colombi and the Red Raiders to just 18 points and limited Colombi to just 234 yards passing and an average of merely 5.7 yards per attempt.  Though this year Colombi seems to be a more confident passer, especially downfield, this is a defense that he will not have seen all that often and it is going to be imperative that the gameplan doesn’t ask him to do too much.

Rather, Tech needs to pound the football on the ground.  That’s because the Frogs are one of the worst teams in the Big 12 in rush defense.

Averaging 204 yards per game allowed on the ground, TCU ranks ahead of only Kansas in the league’s rush defense category.  Therefore, Tech must exploit that weakness today, even if sophomore RB Tahj Brooks is unable to play again with a leg injury.

So keep an eye on the Red Raider rushing attack tonight because it could be the key to a victory.  If Tech can run the football, it will make life much easier for Colombi and that could be the difference in this game.