TWO REASONS TEXAS TECH WILL WIN
AN EFFICIENT AND COMPLETE OFFENSE | I mentioned this yesterday, but to see what Texas Tech offense has done in the past 6 quarters is extremely impressive, even if the competition hasn't been up to snuff. Still, no matter what you think about the competition, the act of completing passes isn't the easiest thing in the world to do, especially when you have defenders attempting to make it stop, but on an average to good day, QB Seth Doege would have completed only 33 of his 44 passes for 75%. The offensive efficiency that Doege displayed is really making the offense go at a pace that's reminiscent of years past. But even with the offense taking off, the other encouraging thing that has gone somewhat unmentioned is the fact that in accition to having the #3 total offense and #2 scoring offense is the fact that Texas Tech also has the #56 rushing offense in the nation. It's only 2 games, but RB Eric Stephens is averaging 105 yards per game and averaging 6.00 yards per carry. Surprisingly, even with Texas Tech averaging 167 yards per game, this would still have Texas Tech 9th in the big 12. I don't think that the offense will be able to keep pace for the remainder of the season. Still, the offense is performing at an excellent pace
A DEEP DEFENSE | One product of rotating and taking your lumps with a defense, especially in the Texas St. game is that the hope is that the defense will be better prepared later in the season. Unfortunately for this young defense, later in the season is now and those young defenders are going to need to grow up. Quickly. The young players like Kerry Hyder, Jackson Richards, Dartwan Bush and Delvon Simmons are growing up before our very eyes. I couldn't be more impressed with Hyder and Jackson and I do think that Chris Perry is making improvements. I'd also add that Dennell Wesley still looks like he can contribute 10 to 15 plays a game and that may be a lot, but I think that's because Glasgow is going to want players he trusts on the field on Saturday and I don't think that Wesley is there yet, despite playing reasonably well thus far. The players that will have to grow up the quickest will be LB Sam Eguavoen and LB Blake Dees, but they've known that for a while. I'm still inclined to think that Cqulin Hubert is the better option at linebacker, especially for this game, but he's got to earn it and maybe last week's demotion was that motivation. The young players that we haven't even mentioned for most of the first two games, sans a couple of long passes, is the secondary in general. CB Derrick Mays, CB Tre' Porter and SS Terrance Bullitt are just sophomores and the reason we haven't talked about them is because they haven't been tested. Bullitt and WS Cody Davis will see his fair share of time at or near the line of scrimmage.
TWO REASONS TEXAS TECH WILL LOSE
NEVADA'S IMPOSING RUSHING ATTACK | This has me scared silly. I have a fear of seeing Nevada control the clock and just run down the Texas Tech defense. Texas Tech has to force Nevada to throw the Ball. QB Tyler Lantrip is just completing 57.1% of his passes, has just 1 touchdown and 4 interceptions. He's not being asked to be a huge part of the offense, but he's got to carry a bigger load. Still, it wouldn't surprise me to see Ault decide to take the ball out of Lantrip's hands for the most part and make the Texas Tech defense prove that they can stop the run. And there was improvement as Texas Tech allowed 5.12 yards per carry against Texas St. and only 2.95 yards against New Mexico. New Mexico isn't known for their rushing prowess, but those are still good statistics. If I had to guess, I think that guys like SS Terrance Bullitt and WS Cody Davis are going to play integral parts of the the game plan and they're going to prove that they're not afraid to step up to the line of scrimmage.
FEWER OPPORTUNITIES TO MAKE PLAYS | If Nevada decides to run the ball to the point that they control the clock, it will, in effect, create a situation where the players who have been making plays behind the line of scrimmage less of an opportunity to do so. The Wolf Pack have only given up 1 sack and only 5 tackles for a loss for the year, which means that Texas Tech will have less opportunity to make those plays behind the line of scrimmage. Texas Tech will need to continue to force turnovers and Texas Tech has been very successful thus far, #4 in the nation in turnover margin, and Nevada has been one of the worst at turning the ball over, 111th in the nation in turnover margin.