GAME DETAILS
Where: Jones AT&T Stadium, Lubbock, Texas
When: 11:00 a.m., Saturday, Sept. 14
Watch it on: FS1
All-time series: Tied, 4-4
What you should know: North Texas
Head coach: Eric Morris
2023 record: 5-7 (3-5 American Athletic Conference)
After a rough week two, Texas Tech will have an opportunity to turn its fortunes around in an early morning bout against cross-state foe North Texas. The Red Raiders, now 1-1 on the season after suffering their first loss to Washington State, have plenty of questions to ask of themselves that need answers in a hurry.
It is a homecoming for Mean Green head coach Eric Morris as the theme of connections and past ties continue to loom over the Red Raiders’ impending matchups. Morris is in his second season coaching UNT, which he joined after a successful season as the offensive coordinator for Washington State where he led the Cougars to the No. 1 ranked offense in the Pac-12 in 2022.
Morris will be coaching in Lubbock for the first time since he took the head coaching job at Incarnate Word in 2018 after five seasons on Kliff Kingsbury’s staff.
The Shallowater native, of course, hails from the Mike Leach tree, with his rendition of the spread offense featuring a more balanced attack than others who run similar schematics.
In Morris’ first season at the helm in Denton, UNT was one of four offenses to feature a 3,000 yard passer, 1,000 yard rusher and 1,000 yard receiver all in the same year. The Red Raiders, hanging around 10-point favorites, will have their hands full.
Let's dive into my keys to the game.
Put Chandler Morris in positions of peril
As if Texas Tech’s own misfortunes on the offensive line were not a story on its own, the Mean Green are in the midst of their own offensive line reshuffling due to injuries. Starting center Jett Duncan was absent from UNT’s win over SFA, while former Red Raider Landon Peterson suffered a knock early in that game.
The offensive line is almost entirely brand new after the transfer portal losses of Ethan Miner, Febechi Nwaiwu and Howard Sampson.
Point being, it is quite the opportunity for the Red Raider pass rushers, both from the interior and on the edge, to make a name for themselves after a slow start to the season.
The signal caller of choice for the Mean Green is TCU transfer Chandler Morris, who despite spending his first four seasons in the Big 12, only saw the field against the Red Raiders in his debut 2020 campaign while at Oklahoma. The Highland Park graduate is making an instant impact, having already thrown for 737 yards, good enough for second in the nation currently.
He is not without his faults, though. Morris is coming off a three interception performance against Stephen F. Austin. The Lumberjacks were able to speed up Morris in the pocket and force him into some, admittedly, poor decisions.
Keep it clean, keep it classy
21 penalties tells quite the story for how the Red Raiders’ season has been rolling so far. Four turnovers, all of them coming in the most recent outing, have Texas Tech slotted 107th in the nation in that department.
The offensive line, in any of its renditions, has been anything but disciplined and that is not a trend that the staff would like to see continue for very long.
When coming up with keys to the game, there is a “What should Texas Tech do” factor and a “What should Texas Tech do to *x opponent*” factor.
Pre-snap penalties and erroneous decisions with the ball fall squarely on the shoulders of the red and black. Enough said.
Challenge UNT’s still-questionable defense
For all the fuss about how porous the Texas Tech defense has looked, UNT finds itself in the same boat heading into this one.
Quite literally, in the same boat. The Red Raiders are giving up 310 yards average (128th nationally) through the first two games. The Mean Green are only four yards better, 306 on the season and 127th in the country, according to the NCAA.
Tech’s efforts containing the ground game against Wazzu failed miserably. UNT gave up an absurd 255 yards per game on the ground throughout all of 2023.
5-foot-8 cornerback Ridge Texada is one of the few returning faces that has stuck in the UNT defense from a season ago. A longtime factor in Denton, Texada recently became the Mean Green’s career leader in passes defended with 31. Mike linebacker Jordan Brown was an All-AAC selection a season ago from several outlets. Beyond that pair, how reliable is this UNT defense as a whole?
Under former Iowa State defensive coordinator Matt Caponi, the Mean Green are looking to take a significant step forward in 2024.
