For a veteran defensive coach like David Gibbs, his first two seasons on the South Plains must have felt like the football equivalent of Andy Dufresne crawling toward freedom through the sewage pipe in Shawshank Redemption.

Dufresne was innocent of the crime that sent him to prison. Gibbs was tasked with fixing a defense that he did not break. Both knew that the only way out was forward.

Andy crawled to freedom through five hundred yards of s*** smelling foulness I can't even imagine, or maybe I just don't want to. Five hundred yards... that's the length of five football fields, just shy of half a mile.

If you think it's hyperbolic to compare the Texas Tech defense to a 500-yard crawl through human waste, well, consider that the Red Raiders gave up 211 more points in Gibbs' first 25 games (1,089) than they did in 35 games under Ruffin McNeill from 2007-09 (878).

Still not convinced?

No team in the Big 12 over the last two seasons...

... accounted for fewer sacks (33) or tackles for loss (116) than Texas Tech.

... gave up more rushing yards per game (260.3) or per attempt (5.96) than Texas Tech.

... allowed a higher third-down conversion rate (46.78) than Texas Tech.

... allowed more plays of 10-plus (482), 20-plus (168), 30-plus (88), 40-plus (42) or 50-plus (23) yards than Texas Tech.

... allowed redzone touchdowns at a higher rate (71.4 percent) over the last two seasons than Texas Tech.

... lost more games when scoring 50-plus points than Texas Tech (4).

Dufresne (spoiler alert) eventually crawled his way out of the sewage pipe. How far away is Gibbs from doing the same?

Eastern Washington entered Saturday's game ranked No. 4 in the FCS and fresh off of a 12-2 season. The Eagles had won two of their last four against Power Five opponents* and three of their last seven against FBS opponents, averaging 35.5 points per game over that stretch. Last season, on its way to a Big Sky Conference title, Eastern averaged 42.4 points and 529.6 yards per game.

It's impossible to know at this point if the Eagles will live up to their lofty preseason ranking or come close to matching their offensive production from last season. What is beyond dispute, however, is Eastern's offensive pedigree and recent history against upper-division opponents.

That should give Texas Tech fans a level of cautious optimism about the team's performance Saturday and the possibility Gibbs' defense has turned the corner and is nearing the end of the sewage pipe.

Some of the Red Raider defense's highlights: the unit forced a turnover on its very first play of the season; after Eastern drove inside the Texas Tech 10-yard-line in the second quarter, the Red Raiders limited the damage to a field goal; the Red Raiders stuffed a 4th and 1 attempt on the Eagles' next drive; Willie Sykes scored on a pick-six in the second half, the program's first since 2015; Texas Tech held Eastern to just 10 points, the Eagles' fewest in a game since 2010.

Granted, it's just one result out of 12. The Red Raiders could turn around and give up eight more rushing touchdowns to Kalen Ballage on Sept. 16 and allow Arizona State to put up another 60-burger on the scoreboard. But for the rest of this week and next, at least, there's reason to take a sip or two of the Texas Tech defensive Kool-Aid and hope that the Red Raiders' 2017 season marks the end of the sewage pipe.

* Texas Tech is 1-3 in its last four games against Power Five opponents.