Matador Mailbag: Ladies and Gentlemen, do we have a defense?

Sometimes you just feel relieved to come out of the week with a win, and that was the case this week as the Red Raiders found a way to get it done in double overtime against the Cougars.

With that being said, let’s get to those questions of yours!

How can Tech handle the offensive line woes?

The short answer is that Houston has one of the most experienced defensive lines in the country, so they were always going to be a handful. This isn’t some lower-tier school that we allowed to make some big plays, that front is legit.

Obviously a few injuries have been the reason why we might not have the best guys out there, but it has been said for a while now that they will rotate guys in here and there early on to make sure that they can find the right guys. This upcoming week against NC State will be another tough test, so we’ll see if they’ve made the right improvements and found a solid starting five to go forward with.

Is this defense for real, or was Houston just not a good test for them?

If you’ve taken a look at some of my articles about the defense, I truly believe that this unit is special. The front four plays fast and has experience with the big guys up front, and the linebackers have been great so far this season as well. The secondary held their own against a group of speedy wide receivers, and I saw some improvements from the week before.

Houston has a really good offense, especially on the outside at wide receiver. Their running backs are not bad either, but they’re certainly not the strength of that team. Our defense will be put to the test this week against NC State, and we will see how they handle one of the top quarterbacks in the nation.

Will we see Morton against NC State after Smith’s shaky performance? Or has he locked up the job?

To answer the second part of that question, Smith has not locked up anything as of right now. He is likely the guy next week to start off, but Morton will be used a bit more and will replace him altogether if he makes too many bonehead decisions.

Smith is very up and down, but he has the intangibles to be great. His running ability reminds me of Cam Newton, which is very high praise. He also reminds me of Newton as a passer, where you really don’t know what you’re going to get at times.

Morton can come in and provide a spark, but he did look inexperienced at times against Murray State. The only way to help with that, it to get experience. So we might see that this week against a tough opponent.

Should Tech be storming the field after beating UH?

I didn’t have a problem with this, but I can see why others do. Obviously we would like to think that Tech is too big of a program to be doing this. After a hard fought win at home against a ranked opponent, there’s really no issue with celebrating like that.

Houston will be in the Big-12 soon enough, so it’s not like we should act as if we are levels ahead of them. Once this team ascends into greater things, we will see less storming of the field.