Texas Tech gets another crack at the Jayhawks in November, looking for an upset-win in Lawrence that would move them back to .500 and one win away from bowl eligibility.
The Red Raiders are expecting a tough test from Kansas, a prolific offensive attack that hasn’t been slowed down this season, creating a ton of problems for opposing defense.
“They do a really nice job, they’ve kind of revolutionized offensive football at this level,” defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter said. “It creates a lot of stress on the defense, gets guys moving, it's hard to get your cleats in the grass and get vertically up the field when you're moving like they are, but it’s quite the fun challenge.”
DeRuyter and Co. will have a big test containing the experienced and developed quarterback Jason Bean, who has taken over for the Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year Jalon Daniels.
“One of the keys is they're able to run the ball for about 200 yards, as well as throw it in a lot of explosives out of their run game,” DeRuyter said. “If you don't get gap sound if you don't get your eyes in the right place. They're going to hurt you.”
The Red Raider rush defense won’t only have to worry about the speedy Bean, but Devin Neal is one of the best runners in the conference, flashing some very prolific speed and ability to create explosive plays.
“When a guy is running for six yards a carry, it gets your attention,” DeRuyter said. “Then combine that with a scheme that they have. Where they get him in a lot of one-on-one situations and they're in a lot of ways running triple option football. He ends up one on one situations on people and makes guys mess and so what as best we can, and we've got to get multiple guys there.”
On the other side of the ball, offensive coordinator Zach Kittley is going to have the challenge of keeping up with the Jayhawk offense against a defense that likes to blitz the linebackers.
“Defensive front wise, they're going to be a little bit more four down than anything else. They’ll mix into three downs and some true 3-3 stacks,” Kittley said. “I think their defensive backs have really improved. I think Kenny Logan is one of the best safeties in the league. The corners are very aggressive, and they like to jump routes.”
Kittley and the Red Raiders saw confidence in the offense with a healthy Behren Morton against TCU, one of the best offensive performances of the season for Tech.
“First and foremost, he was very efficient and was smart with the football,” Kittley said. “We were able to just open it up a little bit more, took some big shots down the field and hit that one to Drae (McCray) for the touchdown.”
A big help to the offense was Xavier White’s emergence over the past few weeks, who is surprisingly the Red Raiders leading receiver through nine games this season.
“He's done a really good job,” Kittley said. “So yeah, anytime you can try to get find those areas where we gave a few times last week to get ball in his hands in some space is advantageous to us.”
Tech and the Jayhawks will meet in a morning matchup, the first 11 a.m. game for the Red Raiders this year, where Tech looks to get one step closer to bowl eligibility.
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