The Red Raiders played the Horned Frogs well yesterday, despite the loss. We’ve pretty much discovered that this team is pretty damn good on defense while continuing to be lackluster on offense.
There was plenty to like on defense, but plenty to dislike on offense, so let’s get to it.
Liked:
Tyree Wilson & His Stellar Saturday:
I am trying to appreciate every time that Wilson suits up with the Red Raiders because there are only so many more times that it’s going to happen. Tyree is going to the league and made his mark in front of around a dozen NFL scouts this weekend.
Wilson was all over the field and ended up with 1.5 tackles for loss and half a sack, again with one of his best performances of the season.
Jesiah Pierre’s Best Game:
Pierre has been looking better as of late and broke out yesterday.
He was up there with Tyree as the most impressive player on the defensive side of the football field. He racked up five tackles, 1.5 sacks, 2.5 tackles for loss and a quarterback hurry. I heard Pierre’s name called a ton yesterday and as a junior, will likely be a massive part of the defense next year.
DeRuyter’s continued excellence:
Tim DeRuyter has turned out to be an awesome hire. He’s turned around this defense and they put up another excellent performance before the wheels fell off in the final quarter.
There is plenty to love about the multiple coverage, disguised blitz-filled defense but it held one of the best offenses quiet early in the contest.
Kirby Hocutt and Texas Tech are going to have a hell of a job to do this offseason by keeping him around because I’m certain someone is looking at him for an open position.
Shough’s throw to Sparkman:
This may be one of the only plays that was extremely positive on offense all day.
Shough threw his best ball of the season, and possibly the best one of his Texas Tech career to Sparkman who came down with the ball in the same spot that he lost it against Baylor.
Cam’ron Valdez Finally Hitting the Field:
Valdez hasn’t been on the field all season and the idea of him suiting up failed to come to fruition on multiple occasions this season.
In garbage time, he made his season debut and broke off two explosive runs. An encouraging site for the future of the running back position.
Disliked:
The Continued Offensive Line Struggles:
This group was missing a couple of massive pieces and lost another one in Ty Buchanan, who got hurt in garbage time of his debut as a Red Raider.
The tackle position struggled once again, and it is somewhat surprising that Ethan Carde couldn’t beat out the struggling Caleb Rogers in practice this week.
We know what this group is, and it sucks to not see development at the position, but they really hurt the running game and offense as a whole, giving up four sacks and nine tackles for loss.
Injuries to the Quarterback & Other Key Players:
The Red Raiders can’t seem to stay healthy this season, especially at the quarterback position. Morton appeared to reaggravate his ankle that was injured originally against Oklahoma State.
Tech lost Sparkman, Jerand Bradley, and Tony Bradford appeared to be injured near the end of the game, so hopefully none of those guys are too hurt.
The Absence of the Tight Ends:
The tight ends received one target yesterday; it went to Henry Teeter in the end zone that was deflected.
I don’t remember seeing Mason Tharp on the field at all and Baylor Cupp only seemed to get a few snaps, I guess we will find out for sure when the grades come through later in the week. This position group is so damn talented, and it is super frustrating to see them go unused.
Special Teams’ Massive Blunder:
The punt return for a touchdown on the opening play appeared to be a lack of effort to me, a lot of guys were jogging to the football in this, and it is super frustrating as this got the crowd into the matchup.
In the end it didn’t matter but erase this and the Red Raiders are in a much better position in what turned out to be a pretty fortunate first half.
Quite Horrific Officiating:
The facemask penalty on Tyree changed this game, bar none.
Tech had a real chance to extend their lead and get off the field but instead the Frogs took the lead and all the momentum the Red Raiders had were gone.
Another awful call was the Myles Price near catch, there had to be pass interference on that one.
There was plenty to like on defense, but plenty to dislike on offense, so let’s get to it.
Liked:
Tyree Wilson & His Stellar Saturday:
I am trying to appreciate every time that Wilson suits up with the Red Raiders because there are only so many more times that it’s going to happen. Tyree is going to the league and made his mark in front of around a dozen NFL scouts this weekend.
Wilson was all over the field and ended up with 1.5 tackles for loss and half a sack, again with one of his best performances of the season.
Jesiah Pierre’s Best Game:
Pierre has been looking better as of late and broke out yesterday.
He was up there with Tyree as the most impressive player on the defensive side of the football field. He racked up five tackles, 1.5 sacks, 2.5 tackles for loss and a quarterback hurry. I heard Pierre’s name called a ton yesterday and as a junior, will likely be a massive part of the defense next year.
DeRuyter’s continued excellence:
Tim DeRuyter has turned out to be an awesome hire. He’s turned around this defense and they put up another excellent performance before the wheels fell off in the final quarter.
There is plenty to love about the multiple coverage, disguised blitz-filled defense but it held one of the best offenses quiet early in the contest.
Kirby Hocutt and Texas Tech are going to have a hell of a job to do this offseason by keeping him around because I’m certain someone is looking at him for an open position.
Shough’s throw to Sparkman:
This may be one of the only plays that was extremely positive on offense all day.
Shough threw his best ball of the season, and possibly the best one of his Texas Tech career to Sparkman who came down with the ball in the same spot that he lost it against Baylor.
Cam’ron Valdez Finally Hitting the Field:
Valdez hasn’t been on the field all season and the idea of him suiting up failed to come to fruition on multiple occasions this season.
In garbage time, he made his season debut and broke off two explosive runs. An encouraging site for the future of the running back position.
Disliked:
The Continued Offensive Line Struggles:
This group was missing a couple of massive pieces and lost another one in Ty Buchanan, who got hurt in garbage time of his debut as a Red Raider.
The tackle position struggled once again, and it is somewhat surprising that Ethan Carde couldn’t beat out the struggling Caleb Rogers in practice this week.
We know what this group is, and it sucks to not see development at the position, but they really hurt the running game and offense as a whole, giving up four sacks and nine tackles for loss.
Injuries to the Quarterback & Other Key Players:
The Red Raiders can’t seem to stay healthy this season, especially at the quarterback position. Morton appeared to reaggravate his ankle that was injured originally against Oklahoma State.
Tech lost Sparkman, Jerand Bradley, and Tony Bradford appeared to be injured near the end of the game, so hopefully none of those guys are too hurt.
The Absence of the Tight Ends:
The tight ends received one target yesterday; it went to Henry Teeter in the end zone that was deflected.
I don’t remember seeing Mason Tharp on the field at all and Baylor Cupp only seemed to get a few snaps, I guess we will find out for sure when the grades come through later in the week. This position group is so damn talented, and it is super frustrating to see them go unused.
Special Teams’ Massive Blunder:
The punt return for a touchdown on the opening play appeared to be a lack of effort to me, a lot of guys were jogging to the football in this, and it is super frustrating as this got the crowd into the matchup.
In the end it didn’t matter but erase this and the Red Raiders are in a much better position in what turned out to be a pretty fortunate first half.
Quite Horrific Officiating:
The facemask penalty on Tyree changed this game, bar none.
Tech had a real chance to extend their lead and get off the field but instead the Frogs took the lead and all the momentum the Red Raiders had were gone.
Another awful call was the Myles Price near catch, there had to be pass interference on that one.
