What Texas Tech must do to defeat North Texas today in Lubbock

Today, the Texas Tech football team looks to get on track when it hosts North Texas out of the American Athletic Conference. The Red Raiders will be looking to avoid dropping a game to a Group of 5 team for the second year in a row after falling in last year's season opener at Wyoming.

North Texas comes into this game with some momentum. At 2-0 for the first time since 2018, the Mean Green have to be confident as they come to Lubbock.

However, the two wins that UNT has secured this year have come against rather unimpressive opponents. Beating South Alabama and Stephen F. Austin is not quite the equivalent of taking down a Big 12 team on the road.

Still, this is a UNT team that is dangerous, especially on offense under head coach Eric Morris (a Texas Tech alum). The Mean Green rank third in the NCAA in passing yards per with 384.0. What's more, they are also 14th nationally in total offense averaging 527.0 yards per game.

That's not good news for a Red Raider defense that has been one of the worst in the country through two games. In fact, the Red Raiders rank 128th in the country in total defense.

So let's to deeper inside the numbers to see what the Red Raiders need to do to come out on top. And we'll start by talking about something that has been a major issue for Tech this year.

Texas Tech must find a way to pressure the quarterback

If the Red Raiders can't find a way to make UNT quarterback Chandler Morris uncomfortable, then it will be another long day for the defense. The former TCU starting quarterback is putting up massive numbers thus far for the Eagles and he won't be intimidated by playing in Lubbock.

Running UNT's version of the "Air Raid" offense, he's averaging 368.5 passing yards per game while throwing seven TDs. However, he has been picked off three times as well this year.

Similar to Abilene Christian, UNT gets rid of the football quickly. The Eagles have attempted 86 passes this year and have only given up three sacks. That's one sack per every 28.6 attempts. which is excellent.

Again, though, the Red Raiders should be more physical and talented than either of the teams UNT has played thus far. However, through two games, Tech has racked up just one sack. That must change today because the Red Raiders won't like the results if Morris is allowed to pick apart the secondary.

Texas Tech needs to run the football, even if Tahj Brooks doesn't play

Last week, Texas Tech didn't really have a chance to establish the run because Washington State jumped out to a double-digit lead in the second quarter. Thus, the Red Raiders got only 78 rushing yards when the game was still on the line (backup QB Cam Brown ran for 70 more yards in garbage time).

We don't know if star running back Tahj Brooks will play today. He missed last week's game with an arm injury and in his place, the Red Raider running backs amassed 59 yards on the ground.

Running the ball will be important against North Texas. Their defensive coordinator comes from the Iowa State defensive tree meaning they will sit back with as many as eight defensive backs and dare teams to run the ball.

That's why Tech has to establish a ground game, regardless of whether or not Brooks is available. UNT has given up an average of 108.5 yards per game on the ground, good for No. 53 nationally.

However, again, we have to remember that their two opponents thus far have been little sisters of the poor and not of the caliber of a Big 12 opponent. This is an area of the game that Tech should control, even with starting left guard Vinny Sciury out for the season.

Remember that it will be hot today in Lubbock so the UNT defense might be susceptible to wearing down if Tech can take the fight to them. So look to see if the Red Raiders are able to run the ball down the Eagles' throat in this game.

Texas Tech must cut down on the self-inflicted mistakes

In a roster vs. roster comparison, Texas Tech will have a clear-cut advantage over UNT. But this game could come down to which team plays the cleanest game.

As you know, Tech has been atrocious when it comes to self-inflicted wounds. The Red Raiders rank 123rd out of 133 teams in penalties per game at 10.5 per game.

Meanwhile, they are also 106th nationally in turnovers lost at 4. Those are two areas where Tech has to improve today.

There can't be as many mental mistakes such as pre-snap penalties for a false start or too many men on the field. Those are easy to clean up and now that there are two games in the books, mistakes like that should begin to decrease.

Fortunately, UNT is also a heavily-penalized team. They rank 127th in the country in flags per game, which is actually worse than Texas Tech.

And like the Red Raiders, the Mean Green has lost four turnovers in two games. Therefore, this game between two sloppy teams will likely come down to which one can clean up its act the most.