Texas Tech football: What Red Raiders must do to beat UCF

Texas Tech must feed Tahj Brooks early and often

Let’s just get the obvious out of the way right off the bat.  Tech has to feature a heavy dose of Tahj Brooks in this game.

In fact, with QB Behren Morton still fighting through a sprained throwing shoulder, Tech’s game plan might look almost exactly like it did against Kansas last week when Brooks ran the ball 33 times including 13 carries on Tech’s first two drives, both of which ended with points.

Brooks should be licking his chops today in his final game in Lubbock.  That’s because the Knights have one of the worst rushing defenses in America.

Allowing 208.4 yards per game, the Knights rank 128th out of 133 FBS teams in the nation.  That’s not good news for a team facing the Power 5 leader in missed tackles forced (according to Pro Football Focus).

Already this year, UCF has allowed five individual rushers to hit the 100-yard mark including Kansas State’s DJ Giddens who ran for 204 yards and 4 TDs against them.  What’s more, the Knights gave up 281 yards on the ground to Kansas State, 399 to Kansas, 286 to West Virginia, and 248 to Cincy.

Of course, the Knights are going to load the box against Tech to try to limit Brooks’ effectiveness.  But will that matter?

Knowing that every team on their schedule is going to try to run the ball down their throat, haven’t the Knights already been loading the box to try to stop the run?  Likely so…and it hasn’t helped outside of last week’s rainy slog vs. Oklahoma State.

Today, the Red Raiders need to let Tahj Brooks have the ball early and often.  He might set a career-high in yards and carries today and if he does, it will bode well for his team’s chances of prevailing.