There has been just so much improvement from Texas Tech on the defensive side of the ball. It’s so dang impressive to see the way the Red Raiders are playing right now. Thanks to the work of new defensive coordinator Shiel Wood and also the addition of a ton of talent on that side of the ball, the Red Raiders now have one of the best defenses in the Big 12 (and possibly the country).
And that’s a great thing to see! With a competent defense (and an offense that continues to explode for seemingly dozens of points at a time), the Red Raiders can theoretically create headaches for just about anyone on their schedule.
But, as the Red Raiders get set to meet up with the Houston Cougars, Wood was asked about the way that his former employer’s offense might make things tricky for Texas Tech this weekend.
Texas Tech defensive coordinator Shiel Wood highlights how the Houston Cougars offense could make things interesting for TTU
As Wood explained, it sounds like Houston will be focused on moving the ball on the ground first and then building off of that.
“They do a nice job,” Wood noted. “They want to run the football, play action bootlegs off of the run actions.”
Admittedly, I do appreciate Wood simplifying things down a bit so I can understand it.
Also, Houston’s offense will be interesting to see. I’ve watched a bit of what they do in a few of their games so far and the Cougars haven’t exactly lit things up against any defense that they’ve faced up to this point. That said, it is plausible that they could improve in this game.
“I think they do a really good job of picking and choosing when they want to try to push the ball down the field and trying to do a good job of negating your pass rush ability by the number of people they leave in to protect,” Wood said.
As Texas Tech’s defensive coordinator continued, the Cougars haven’t made an abundance of mistakes so far this season.
“They take care of the football, they’ve got some playmakers on the perimeter, so all those things will be challenges for us in this game,” Wood explained.