THIRD DOWN CONVERSIONS | Right now, Texas Tech sits at an incredible third down conversion rate of 64%, which is good for 2nd in the nation. I'll say it here, which is that it's just a two game sample size with one team being a FCS team and another team that's won two games in two years, but it's still absolutely incredible and much of the credit should go to Seth Doege. The offense has converted 16 of 25 attempts and if you want to know why the offense has been so good, this is a good place to start.
GETTING TO THE BACKFIELD | The Red Raiders are doing a good job of getting behind the line of scrimmage. I mentioned this after the first game, that things certainly change after conference play starts, but the results are encouraging so I'm cautiously optimistic. The tackles behind the line of scrimmage are occurring in what I think is the natural flow of the defense and a result of the scheme and not individual play-makers. Texas Tech is averaging 6.50 TFL per game and I don't expect that pace to continue, but thus far, I like the aggressiveness.
SUSPECT SAFETY COVERAGE | The one thing that most Texas Tech fans noticed in the New Mexico game was that had the UNM quarterback been halfway accurate, he could have hit his receivers for a few decent gains down the field and did connect on a 69 yard reception. S Cody Davis gets some of the blame because he was covering the receiver while CB Tre' Porter was blitzing, but had Porter been more aggressive in his blitz I think you see a more rushed throw that has a more difficult time being completed. Davis can hold his own in spots and I think I only recall one time where Davis was truly behind the receivers when he wasn't asked to go one-on-one with a receiver. This is a work in progress, but we knew that coming into the season. The Texas Tech safeties may not be tested against Nevada as well as they are primarily a rushing team, but this is still a concern.
PROBLEMATIC RUSHING DEFENSE | With such a young defense and considering the way that Texas St. carved up that defense three weeks ago, the Texas Tech defense sits at 91st in the nation. Considering that Texas Tech will be facing one of the best rushing offenses in the nation this week in Nevada, I'm more than a little nervous to see that many young players having to play sound fundamental defense and not get pushed out of the way. This is by far my biggest concern heading into Saturday's game, that Nevada will just churn out rushing yards and tire out a relatively young defense.
PASSING OFFENSE | Right now, Doege is 3rd in the nation in passing offense and Texas Tech is also 3rd in the nation in passing offense. It's an excellent start and it's a trend that I think takes advantage of the weapons that Texas Tech has to offer. Nevada will be the first decent test of the year.