Takeaways: Patterson, Howard talk upcoming Big 12 opener

The bye week has come and gone for the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Big 12 Conference play begins officially for the Red Raiders this Saturday in Norman, Oklahoma, against the high-powered Oklahoma Sooners, led by Alabama transfer Jalen Hurts.

After heavy and brief rain showers passed through Lubbock, defensive coordinator Keith Patterson and junior defender Eli Howard changed out of their soaked practice gear and met with the media inside the indoor practice facility.

During the bye, the defense had some stuff to improve on, and Patterson said they took from the first three games and tried to correct the explosive plays and such.

“Really focused a lot on us, and individual technique,” Patterson said. “Just getting back to almost like hitting the restart button. But again, using this as an opportunity to refresh some guys and take a look at some of the younger guys as well.”

Patterson talked about the obvious, knowing Hurts is the signal-caller his defense will be needing to worry and practice on this week.

“You got a dual-threat guy who can extend plays, make plays with his feet. Strong arm, and then you got wide receivers, multiple wide receivers. There’s not just one guy that you can sit there a say, ‘hey we’re going to load coverages,’ and things like that too. So, they keep you balanced that way.

And then the running backs. Both the guys, they’re fresh, they rotate them, and you got to do a great job of tackling those guys. So, there’s a lot of good things that they do, and obviously we’ve got great respect for what they’ve been able to accomplish so far over the last three years for sure.”

Patterson also notes that Hurts won't just "hurt" anyone with his feet but with his arm, too.

“He just has so many weapons,” Patterson said. “You just have to trust your guys to be able to trust their technique and stay sound in coverage and challenge wide receivers. There’s not any one particular guy that you can just say, ‘Hey it’s (Ceedee Lamb) or hey it’s (Charleston Rambo).’ He’s got multiple receivers that he can get the ball to, and then you got that capability of throwing the ball to the running backs out of the backfield as well as him just pulling the ball down and run. So, they can stretch you horizontally and vertically, both at the same time, and you have to be extremely athletic to be able to get the quarterback.”

In the Arizona game, Tech gave up two critical drives for scores, one being a 14-play 75-yard drive and the other being a 99-yard drive to put the game out of reach. Both drives had the Arizona offense facing multiple third downs, those being pretty manageable to get the Tech defense off the field, but it didn’t go that way.

Defensive end Eli Howard said the Arizona game is helping the team prepare for the Sooners, the bye week was perfect timing. The San Angelo native also discussed how impressive Oklahoma is.

“Despite the quarterback situation, (the bye week) came at a perfect time for us. I mean, you start conference, you’ve had three games, a fourth of the year done, you really can kind of self-evaluate and kind of see what we need to work on as a team during that week, and then, you know, also prepare for OU. So, I think it was perfect timing. We’re blessed because we have another (bye week). Right now, we’re just focusing on trying to beat OU now.”

There are many things that stand out about the Oklahoma Sooner, and Howard talked about those things that make the Sooners that much of a threat.

“I mean what doesn’t, you know? I think their defense has improved this year. Obviously, No. 1 (Jalen Hurts) for them is pretty good, and No. 2 (Ceedee Lamb) really. They’re really explosive on offensive, but I think defense has improved. I mean, they always have a great O-line. Their O-line is always well-coached. I think that coach is one of the best O-line coaches in the nation, if not the best. Yeah, I think they’re the Sooners, and they deserve all the credit and hype. We’re making a game plan to go beat them.”