Red Raiders that must step up for Texas Tech to take down Washington State

Today, Texas Tech will face a tough test at Washington State. It will be the season's first road game and that's been an area of emphasis for the program all offseason.

In fact, you may remember that this offseason head coach Joey McGuire even went so far as to meet with the head coach of the Detroit Lions, Dan Campbell, to get some pointers about winning away from home. Now, we will see if all of the focus on road success will pay off.

Tech has struggled on the road under McGuire for a number of reasons. Some of those have been factors beyond his control.

Keep in mind that in seven of his eight road losses at Tech, McGuire had either been without his week-one starting quarterback for the entire game or lost his starting QB over the course of the game. The lone exception came last season when Tyler Shough played the entire season opener at Wyoming.

Additionally, Tech has faced some stiff competition away from Lubbock during McGuire's tenure. Five of the eight road losses he's endured have come against ranked teams. That includes in 2022 twice having to play a team ranked No. 7 in the national polls (Oklahoma State and TCU).

On the other hand, self-inflicted wounds have also been a contributor to Tech's road woes under McGuire. For instance, in half of McGuire's road defeats, Tech has turned the ball over three times or more.

Tonight, the program can start to change its road narrative, though. Washington State isn't necessarily an intimidating place to play given that the Cougars' stadium holds only around 32,000 fans.

What's more, tonight's opponent is rebuilding after a 5-7 season in 2023. Additionally, their starting QB, Sophomore John Mateer from Little Elm, Texas is making just his second career start and his first against a Power 4 team.

In other words, the task ahead of the Red Raiders isn't impossible tonight. If this team can clean up its mistakes from week one, it could come out of the Pacific Northwest with a win. For that to happen, though, these three Red Raiders will have to take their game to a new level tonight.

Bralyn Lux has to be as advertised for Texas Tech to improve in the secondary

We don't know for certain that senior corner Bralyn Lux will play tonight. However, after the Abilene Christian game, McGuire said that his top defensive back would be available for this game.

That's why most expect to see the former Fresno State transfer play tonight despite the fact that he was on the official Texas Tech injury report this week. If he does play, he must be as advertised.

Last week, his replacement, sophomore Jalon Peoples, was not good in Lux's spot. He was repeatedly targeted by ACU and frequently beaten by double moves or simply because he was out of place. Despite playing virtually the entire game, he made only four tackles and had just one pass defended in his first collegiate start.

After that game, McGuire said that Lux's absence was a huge issue. Though he praised Peoples for competing, he said that having Lux in the lineup would have made a significant difference.

There is no question that Lux is Tech's best corner. What's more, he's the program's most experienced corner. If he's able to play this week, he must prove to be as advertised and he must bring some stability and maturity to the Red Raiders' defensive backfield because Washington State has a lethal passing attack.

Texas Tech may have to ask Cam'Ron Valdez to carry the load at RB

Another player on this week's injury report is star running back Tahj Brooks who is questionable to play due to an arm injury. McGuire said that Brooks will be a game-time decision on Saturday night.

Therefore the Red Raiders are likely going to need more from junior backup RB Cam'Ron Valdez. Even if Brooks plays, he likely won't be healthy enough to carry the ball 25 times or more.

Thus, Valdez and the other RBs will have to pick up the slack. However, behind Valdez on the depth chart sit a pair of true freshmen, Cam Dickey and J'Koby Williams, neither of whom has played in a road game as Red Raiders.

That's why Valdez is so important tonight. He's seen action in 17 games as a collegiate making him the most experienced backup RB on the roster.

However, he's never made a college start. If that's what he's asked to do tonight, can he prove to be reliable both as a runner and as a blocker? Also, will he be durable enough to help the Red Raiders win? After all, he's never had more than 12 rushing attempts in any game.

Tech goes into tonight knowing that it will have to do everything it can to protect its defense. One way to slow the dangerous WSU passing attack is to keep the Red Raider offense on the field by running the football.

However, the Cougars typically sell out to stop the run meaning yards could be tough to come by. That's where Brooks' ability to break tackles would be sorely missed if he can't play. But if Valdez can at least give Tech a solid option at RB tonight, even if Brooks is able to give it a go, then the Red Raiders might be able to play keep away long enough to limit what WSU wants to do offensively.

Texas Tech's pass rush needs Amier Washington to apply pressure

All of a sudden, Texas Tech has become thin at the outside linebacker spot. That's concerning given that the Red Raiders struggled mightily to rush the passer against ACU registering only one sack, which wasn't really a true sack but was a tackle for loss on the Wildcats' QB, Maverick McIvor, as he ran a designed QB draw on the final play of last week's game.

This week, we learned that edge rusher Joseph Adedire will miss the entire year with a knee injury. What's more, Tech already lost Dylan Spencer, another promising edge rusher, for the year in fall camp.

Additionally, on Monday's injury report, OLB Harvey Dyson was listed as questionable to play this week. So where will the Texas Tech pass rush come from tonight?

This is where Amier Washington needs to step up. Fans may remember him as the hero of the Independence Bowl win over Cal, a game in which he had two sacks and a forced fumble.

However, against ACU he managed no sacks and no tackles. That's not going to cut it, especially with the Red Raiders now thin at the edge rush position.

The same could be said of Isaac Smith, another edge rusher who didn't get to the QB last week aster entering the game with high expectations. He and Washington may be the best options Tech has at OLB tonight and they are going to have to find a way to get after the passer or it could be a long night in Pullman for the Tech defense.