Texas Tech football: Why Kansas is a tough matchup for the Red Raiders

KU’s big-play defense could be a problem for a turnover-prone Texas Tech offense

This year, many expected KU to have an awful defense.  However, that unit has surprised many in 2023 and though it is far from dominant, it has proven to be timely when it comes to making big plays.

Overall, the Jayhawks are just ninth in the league in total defense.  On average, they give up 394 yards per game, 20 more than Tech allows.

But KU has taken the ball away 13 times this year, including nine interceptions.  That’s troubling for a Tech team that’s thrown the ball to the other team 12 times.

Now, it must be noted that Behren Morton has thrown only two interceptions this year.  Meanwhile, half of Tech’s picks have come from Jake Strong, the true freshman who threw six picks combined against K-State and BYU.  The rest belong to Tyler Shough and he won’t factor into this game, obviously.

When KU does take the ball away, though, they do tend to make the most of those opportunities. In each of their last two games, both being one-score wins, they have had a pick-six from their defense.

What’s more, against OU, they scored one play after recovering a fumble in the second half and they had a fumble return and an INT return TD against BYU.  In other words, they are opportunistic.

For Tech to have a shot at winning this game, Morton is going to have to play a clean game in the turnover department while Bean will likely have to throw the ball or fumble it away to the Red Raiders once or twice.  Bean does have 14 career picks at KU over three years despite being a backup so he will likely give the defense a shot at making a huge play.  If Tech can find a way to capitalize, then this could be a very interesting game.