On the road this week, so will have to be quick.
Toy surprise in the box after the jump!
Report Card
Rankings
There was to be no upset in Norman last week. Quite the opposite.
Texas Tech falls from 42 to 48 in the Sagarin rankings.
Opponents Rankings
Tech is 1-3 against Top 25 teams this year. The win against Mizzou was the highlight of our season.
Tech is 1-3 against four Top 25 offenses (victory came against Baylor). Oklahoma State currently has the top rated offense in the country.
The highest rated defense among those Top 25 teams is Texas A&M, currently ranked at 55.
Offense
It's now been six weeks since we've exceeded 30 points on offense.
Texas Tech's offense dropped from number 21 to number 28 in the country.
Our passing output against OU (144 yards) was worse than our passing output against Texas (158). We also recorded our worst passer rating of the year (76.6).
As Seth pointed out earlier, we generated 3.5 yards per passing attempt versus 4.8 yards per rushing attempt.
Texas Tech is 4-3 in games in which it has rushed over 130 yards, and 1-2 in games in which it has rushed for less than 100 yards.
We should expect the offensive ranking to improve after our games against Weber State and Houston.
Defense
Tech's defense dropped from 106th to 115th in the country.
Tech's defense is 118th against the pass and 69th against the run.
Our defensive ranking will likely improve, but only marginally. Houston has the 13th ranked offense in the country, and while we should win that game, we should probably expect Houston to get its yards.
Houston is 5-5 with two games left in the season - Southern Mississippi (7-3) and Texas Tech. You better believe they'll have something to play for when they come to the Jones - as will Texas Tech.
Weber State
And you thought this week would never come! The long anticipated match up between Texas Tec h and the Wildcats of Weber State is finally here!
Seth is providing us with the inside scoop this week, so we'll just focus on last week's game against Northern Arizona.
Weber State travelled to Flagstaff, Arizona to face the Lumberjacks of Northern Arizona in front of 6,087 delirious fans. Both teams had a lot on the line - improved pole position in the Big Sky and more importantly a chance to qualify for the FCS tournament.
Weber State, which lost senior quarterback Cameron Higgins in the third quarter to injury, was trailing 26-13 going into the fourth quarter. The Wildcats came back to score 14 points in the fourth quarter, capped by a two yard rushing touchdown by running back Vaingamalie Tafuna with just 38 seconds left in the game.
Vaingamalie Tafuna might not have the numbers to show it, but it would be hard to deny that he is probably the team's most valuable player this year.
Weber State, now 6-4, could wind up ranked 3rd in the Big Sky conference should Sacramento State fall to UC Davis and if, as expected, Montana (last year's FCS runnerups) loses against Montana State.
Texas Tech won't be Weber State's first rodeo. The Wildcats opened the season against Boston College (5-5) and held the ball for over 37 minutes in front of 34, 168 fans at Alumni Stadium despite falling 38-20.
We should expect to get Weber State's best shot.