What Texas Tech must do to prevail at Washington State on Saturday night

The great thing about sports is that they almost always offer a shot at redemption. That's what Texas Tech is looking for after an awful showing against Abilene Christian in week one's 52-51 OT win over FCS opponent Abilene Christian.

All week, the Red Raiders have had to listen to people talk about how bad they played in the opener and how bleak their season outlook now is. Hopefully, that will motivate Joey McGuire's team to play a much better game against Washington State.

For that to happen, though, the Red Raiders are going to have to improve in a number of areas. Let's take a look at three critical aspects of the game where Tech must be better in week two.

Texas Tech must clean up the penalties

Last week, the Red Raiders were atrocious when it came to the penalty department. In fact, they were flagged 11 times for 78 yards.

Now, 78 yards in penalties isn't that egregious. That's especially true when you suffer 11 infractions.

What that suggests is that Tech had a bunch of small penalties that added up. In all, McGuire's team suffered seven pre-snap penalties. That includes at least one false start by every starting offensive lineman except Caleb Rogers.

The good news is that pre-snap penalties are easy to correct. The bad news for tonight is that those types of infractions usually increase when playing on the road where crowd noise often makes it harder for the offense to communicate.

Last season, Tech was one of the better teams in the nation in penalties per game. Averaging just 5.7 per game, the Red Raiders ranked 55th nationally.

In this year's first game, flags were a tremendous problem for the Red Raiders, though. If they are as sloppy in game two, it will be hard to envision the Red Raiders being able to win.

The Texas Tech defense must limit Washington State's explosive plays

Last week, Texas Tech made life far too easy on the Wildcats. Time and again, ACU was able to make explosive plays on offense thanks to busts in the Tech secondary.

In fact, the Wildcats had nine plays of 20 yards or more in week one, including three touchdowns of 30 yards or more. That is simply unacceptable.

Now, the scary part for Tech fans is that Washington State averaged 12.4 yards per play in week one. That included 10 plays of 20 or more yards. What's more, eight of their touchdowns were of 30 yards or longer.

Tonight, Tech must do whatever it can to slow the Washington State offense and make the Cougars drive the football the length of the field to score. If that means playing softer coverage or blitzing less, then so be it. Whatever it takes to keep Washington State from breaking loose, Tech has to do it.

Tech Texas must find a way to run the football

Though we don't know exactly how good the Cougars' defense is given that they played a bad FCS team in week one, we do know that their philosophy is built around stopping the run. That's why the Red Raiders must find a way to pick up yards on the ground tonight, even if Tahj Brooks doesn't play.

Last season, Washington State gave up only 150.2 yards rushing per game. That was good for No. 56 in the nation.

Meanwhile, we all know that Tech wants to run the football. That's because the Red Raiders know that they will have to protect their defense tonight and the best way to do that is to keep the Washington State offense on the sidelines.

This is where Tech's offensive line must be strong. If Brooks can't play, then the line must open up rushing lanes for Cam Valdez, Cam Dickey, and J'Koby Williams, none of whom can break tackles the way Brooks can.

Running the ball would be the best recipe for Tech to follow. It would shorten the game, keep the Cougar offense off the field, and take the crowd out of the game. If Tech can move the ball that way tonight, then we may like the results we see in this crucial non-conference game.