Texas Tech football: Surprises from the Red Raiders’ week one loss

The Texas Tech pass rush was ineffective on a night when Wyoming threw the ball more than expected

All offseason, the story from the Texas Tech coaching staff, especially Joey McGuire, was that this team would have the best pass rush the program has seen in recent years.  The coaching staff said that they were confident in their team’s ability to get to the QB despite the loss of All-Big 12 defensive end, Tyree Wilson to the NFL.

The theory was that the depth of the defensive line would make up for the absence of Wilson, who was the No. 7 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.  Players like Myles Cole, Steve Linton, Joseph Adidere, Tony Bradford, and Jaylon Hutchings were supposed to supply a steady stream of pressure to opposing QBs.

That didn’t happen in the opener.  In fact, Tech got only two sacks on the night.  Many suspected Tech’s sack total would be low given the assumption that Wyoming would try to grind the ball with the ground game.

Instead, Tech forced the Cowboys to put the game in Peasley’s hands as the Cowboys officially threw 34 passes.  To put that in context, that’s more passes than he threw in any game in 2022.

What’s more, there were extra pass-rush opportunities for the Red Raiders on plays where Peasley dropped back to pass only to wind up scrambling for yards, plays that went down as rush attempts.  How many times did a Tech pass rusher seem to have Peasley dead to rights in the pocket only to fail to bring him down thus allowing him to pick up positive yards with his legs?  More than we’d like to count.

The only meaningful sack that Tech was able to get was Hutchings’ sack on Wyoming’s final drive of regulation, a play that essentially ensured the game would head to overtime.  But on a night when there were far more pass-rush opportunities for the Red Raiders than anyone expected, the defensive line couldn’t get home near enough.  That’s concerning as we head into week two.