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Texas Tech football: Top 5 offensive weapons Tech will face this season

By Matthew Conner

Dec 29, 2020; San Antonio, TX, USA; Texas Longhorns running back Bijan Robinson (5) scores on a 21-yard touchdown run against the Colorado Buffaloes during the fourth quarter of the Alamo Bowl at the Alamodome. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 29, 2020; San Antonio, TX, USA; Texas Longhorns running back Bijan Robinson (5) scores on a 21-yard touchdown run against the Colorado Buffaloes during the fourth quarter of the Alamo Bowl at the Alamodome. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /
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Dec 28, 2021; Memphis, TN, USA; Texas Tech Red Raiders defensive back Dadrion Taylor-Demerson (left) and defensive back Reggie Pearson Jr. (right) celebrate with defensive back Eric Monroe (center) after an interception during the second half against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Liberty Bowl Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 28, 2021; Memphis, TN, USA; Texas Tech Red Raiders defensive back Dadrion Taylor-Demerson (left) and defensive back Reggie Pearson Jr. (right) celebrate with defensive back Eric Monroe (center) after an interception during the second half against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Liberty Bowl Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports /

The Texas Tech football season is now just a month away.  Therefore, many Red Raider fans are starting to think about what lies ahead for our team this fall.

But when we begin to look at the 2022 season and especially the Big 12, we must acknowledge that the league that was once the most explosive offensive league in the nation has undergone a bit of an evolution.

No longer is winning shootouts the only way to survive in this conference.  In fact, defense and running the football have come back en vogue among Tech’s league rivals.

Last season, no Big 12 team finished in the top 10 in the nation in points per game.  That was the first time that happened since TeamRankings.com started keeping track of such stats in 2003.

What’s more, four of the teams in the conference (TCU, Kansas State, West Virginia, Kansas) averaged below 30 points per game.  That comes a year after 2020 when five Big 12 teams averaged below 30 p.p.g.

Also, no Big 12 team in 2021 averaged over 40 p.p.g. with OU leading the way at 39.  That’s a stark contrast to 2015 when four teams eclipsed that mark.  What’s more, it was the first time since 2013 that no Big 12 team averaged 40 p.p.g.

In a related statistic, running the ball was far more prevalent in 2021 than it has been in this conference in recent years.  Last fall, five Big 12 teams averaged over 185 yards per game on the ground.  The year prior, only three churned out that many yards by land.  2021’s total was the most since 2016 when six Big 12 programs put up over 200 per game on the ground.

But though the Big 12 appears to be undergoing a bit of a metamorphosis. it doesn’t mean that playing defense in this league will be any easier than it has been.  Thankfully, Tech has one of the brightest defensive minds in the college game now leading the way on that side of the football.

Arriving after one season as the defensive coordinator at Oregon, Tim DeRuyter is now set to coordinate the Red Raider defense.  That’s a name that may be familiar to many Red Raider fans as he was formerly the Texas A&M defensive coordinator in 2010 and 2011.

In all, DeRuyter has been either a defensive coordinator or head coach for each of the past 20 seasons.  That includes stints at Oregon, Cal, Air Force, A&M, and Ohio as a defensive coordinator and a run from 2012-16 as head coach at Fresno State.

His defenses are known in particular for taking the football away.  Last season. Oregon was 22nd nationally in turnovers created with 22.

This year, DeRuyter will inherit a veteran defense that features nine returnees who started multiple games a season ago.  But that group will be tested heavily in the Big 12 as the offensive individual talent in this conference is still as elite as it ever has been.

So let’s take a look at the top offensive stars that Tech will face this season.  And though we will focus mostly on Big 12 players, we must begin by looking at two impressive QBs from outside the league.

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