I don’t know about you, but I’m not used to Texas Tech’s defense performing at a high level. And I’m not used to the Red Raiders getting a chance to pummel opponents because of the way the defense is performing. It’s just such a new phenomenon to me.
But it’s a welcomed sight to see. It’s a good thing to have the Red Raiders defense performing in this way to start the season. It’s such a meaningful and drastic change from the way the Texas Tech defense was operating a year ago at this time as Abilene Christian’s offense gave folks plenty of gray hairs and headaches to start the 2024 season.
I hope Shiel Wood and Joey McGuire are proud of how the Red Raiders performed on defense. I think I am. I’m not a college football coach though. And so, it’s worth listening to how the head coach of the Red Raiders viewed things on the defensive performance.
Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire talks about Red Raiders’ defensive performance against Arkansas-Pine Bluff in Week 1
During his postgame press conference, McGuire discussed just that.
“Defensively, I thought we pressured the quarterback,” McGuire said.
I think that’s a fair assessment. Texas Tech was able to cause a couple of sacks and it seemed like the Red Raiders defensive front generally created a few rushed passes and poor decisions here and there. And that’s a good thing.
“I will tell you, those defensive tackles will stay in their lanes, which they did, but if they’ll stand in their lanes, they’re going to have an opportunity to hit the quarterback a lot,” McGuire explained. “Because those two edge guys, between [Romello Height] and David Bailey, they put a lot of pressure on the quarterback.”
And that’s going to be fun to see. That’s going to be a ton of fun to see. I’m not sure there are many offensive lines in the Big 12 that are equipped to deal with the defensive front that Texas Tech has.