1. Just win. Joey McGuire has one (1) road win at Tech in 6 attempts and it was an ugly 4-point win against a (4-8; 1-8) Iowa State team. The latest line has us as a 6pt favorite and the over/under sees it as a 30-24 type of game. I wouldn't be surprised because of our coaching style to see it go to OT. 25% of McGuire's games coached at Tech so far have gone to OT.
2. Make good decisions and protect the football. Shough has started 12 games for our Red Raiders and has not turned the ball over in 6 of them. We are (6-0) when he doesn't turn the ball over and we are (3-3) when he turns the ball over. We need a clean game from Shough.
3. Run the ball with Shough and Brooks. We are (4-2) when Shough scores a rushing TD. We are (3-2) in games where Shough carries the ball double-digit times and (1-1) in games where Shough rushes for 100+ yards.
Shough's best rushing games:
W Neutral Mississippi - 25 rushes 111 yds 4.4 avg 2 TD
L Home Oregon - 23 rushes 101 yds 4.4 avg 1 TD
W Home Kansas - 12 rushes 76 yds 6.3 avg 1 TD
As a starting QB at Oregon:
W Home Stanford - 11 rushes 85 yds 7.7 avg 1 TD
W Road Washington State - 9 rushes 81 yds 9.0 avg 0 TD
L Road California - 13 rushes 53 yds 4.1 avg 0 TD
Tahj Brooks needs to touch the ball. Period.
Tahj is currently 5th in the Big 12 in rushing and we haven't really committed to him outside of the Tarleton State game. He has 37 rushes 268 yds 7.2 avg 1 TD on the season. That breaks down to:
L Road Wyoming 11 rushes 39 yds 3.5 avg 1 TD
L Home Oregon 7 rushes 71 yds 10.1 avg 0 TD
W Home Tarleton 19 rushes 158 yds 8.3 avg 0 TD
He also has an additional 6 receptions 30 yds 5.0 avg 0 TD
Bottom line - Tahj is probably our best offensive player right now. Give him the ball.
4. When we pass, use our size at TE and with Bradley, and take an occasional shot down field.
Mason Tharp is 4th on the team in receiving yards on 8 receptions 90 yds 11.3 avg 2 TD
Jayden York is 9th on 2 receptions 22 yds 11.0 avg 1 TD
I know that Kittley didn't feature the TEs at his first two stops but he needs to adjust to where he is at and to what he has. We have some good pass-catching TEs. Use them out of the run-pass game.
Bradley's in-play effort has disappointed me some early this season. He did appear to perk up for Morton. That may be nothing but it was noticeable. He needs to give max effort more consistently. Even so, he is 1st on the team in receiving yards on 17 receptions 211 yds 12.4 avg 2 TD. He is our guy.
One final pleasant development, Jordan Brown. He is 2nd on the team on 8 receptions 124 yds 15.5 avg (WOW) 1 TD
5. We don't have much athleticism/shiftiness in this offensive roster. Drae McCray hasn't really materialized and we barely used White and Martinez (1 reception).
Combined they are 17 receptions 193 yds 11.4 avg 0 TD
That's not good enough
The lone consistent producer is Myles Price on 12 receptions 118 yds 9.8 avg 3 TD
His catch for Morton's 1st TD of the season was the catch of the (early) year. He needs more touches. To be fair, he's dropped some as well.
Overall, the offense has been uneven. Not what we expect from Kittley after seeing him almost beat us with Houston Baptist and then throw it all over the place at Western Kentucky. He did show that he could scheme a dominating Bowl Win over Mississippi and had a solid enough plan against Oregon. We are going to need to see him coach to this team's strength if we are going to live up to the preseason hype of conference contender.
It's all out in front of us. It starts tomorrow.
Texas Tech 35
West Virginia 17
2. Make good decisions and protect the football. Shough has started 12 games for our Red Raiders and has not turned the ball over in 6 of them. We are (6-0) when he doesn't turn the ball over and we are (3-3) when he turns the ball over. We need a clean game from Shough.
3. Run the ball with Shough and Brooks. We are (4-2) when Shough scores a rushing TD. We are (3-2) in games where Shough carries the ball double-digit times and (1-1) in games where Shough rushes for 100+ yards.
Shough's best rushing games:
W Neutral Mississippi - 25 rushes 111 yds 4.4 avg 2 TD
L Home Oregon - 23 rushes 101 yds 4.4 avg 1 TD
W Home Kansas - 12 rushes 76 yds 6.3 avg 1 TD
As a starting QB at Oregon:
W Home Stanford - 11 rushes 85 yds 7.7 avg 1 TD
W Road Washington State - 9 rushes 81 yds 9.0 avg 0 TD
L Road California - 13 rushes 53 yds 4.1 avg 0 TD
Tahj Brooks needs to touch the ball. Period.
Tahj is currently 5th in the Big 12 in rushing and we haven't really committed to him outside of the Tarleton State game. He has 37 rushes 268 yds 7.2 avg 1 TD on the season. That breaks down to:
L Road Wyoming 11 rushes 39 yds 3.5 avg 1 TD
L Home Oregon 7 rushes 71 yds 10.1 avg 0 TD
W Home Tarleton 19 rushes 158 yds 8.3 avg 0 TD
He also has an additional 6 receptions 30 yds 5.0 avg 0 TD
Bottom line - Tahj is probably our best offensive player right now. Give him the ball.
4. When we pass, use our size at TE and with Bradley, and take an occasional shot down field.
Mason Tharp is 4th on the team in receiving yards on 8 receptions 90 yds 11.3 avg 2 TD
Jayden York is 9th on 2 receptions 22 yds 11.0 avg 1 TD
I know that Kittley didn't feature the TEs at his first two stops but he needs to adjust to where he is at and to what he has. We have some good pass-catching TEs. Use them out of the run-pass game.
Bradley's in-play effort has disappointed me some early this season. He did appear to perk up for Morton. That may be nothing but it was noticeable. He needs to give max effort more consistently. Even so, he is 1st on the team in receiving yards on 17 receptions 211 yds 12.4 avg 2 TD. He is our guy.
One final pleasant development, Jordan Brown. He is 2nd on the team on 8 receptions 124 yds 15.5 avg (WOW) 1 TD
5. We don't have much athleticism/shiftiness in this offensive roster. Drae McCray hasn't really materialized and we barely used White and Martinez (1 reception).
Combined they are 17 receptions 193 yds 11.4 avg 0 TD
That's not good enough
The lone consistent producer is Myles Price on 12 receptions 118 yds 9.8 avg 3 TD
His catch for Morton's 1st TD of the season was the catch of the (early) year. He needs more touches. To be fair, he's dropped some as well.
Overall, the offense has been uneven. Not what we expect from Kittley after seeing him almost beat us with Houston Baptist and then throw it all over the place at Western Kentucky. He did show that he could scheme a dominating Bowl Win over Mississippi and had a solid enough plan against Oregon. We are going to need to see him coach to this team's strength if we are going to live up to the preseason hype of conference contender.
It's all out in front of us. It starts tomorrow.
Texas Tech 35
West Virginia 17
