The Wolf Diamonds 3-2-1: Tech preps for Oliver, Tuberville on the broadcast
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THREE THINGS
Houston’s Ed Oliver is impact player to watch for
Oliver is one of the top defenders in the nation and will be the toughest challenge for the Red Raiders so far this season. Oliver isn’t a sack machine, but his impact is felt more on the run. However, his play uplifts the rest of the line making for a better all-around defense.
“Yeah, it's awesome to see, particularly after the freshman year he had,” Kliff Kingsbury said. “When you get revered on that level all off-season and to come back and play even harder than he did, that says a lot about his character and the people that have coached him, his parents. Everybody that's been a part of his football career has done a great job because he plays the right way.”
Kingsbury said Oliver’s relentlessness is what makes him a special player. He added that Oliver can be seen flying around the ball and never stopping to make a play.
“Mike Leach special” makes its return to playbook
Against Arizona State, the Red Raiders welcomed back the shovel pass, which Kingsbury addressed as the “ole Mike Leach Special” when asked about the play on Sunday. Texas Tech fans are familiar with the play and the response was positive.
Kingsbury said the option might be seen in the future as well. One thing with the shovel pass is that it basically works as a run play option. With the speed of the Red Raider receivers, the option for QB Nic Shimonek to air it out is there, if available, if not a quick shoe of the ball to one of the running backs right near him picks up a few yards rather than an incompletion.
Leach wasn’t the only ex-Texas Tech head coach to be talked about this week at media availabilities.
Tommy Tuberville to call Houston game
On Monday, Texas Tech Athletics released the game notes for this weekend’s matchup. One noticeable take from the pages of text was the name “Tommy Tuberville” listed under the television section as an analyst.
"It's all professional," Tuberville said. "It's good to have familiarity with the teams that you're going to work with. You know more about them. "Coaching against Houston and coaching at Texas Tech, both good schools ... heck, I look forward to it. It should be a great game."
Tuberville said the call wont be awkward for him but Kingsbury may feel a little different.
“Yeah, I mean, they're going to do what they need to do. I just coach football,” Kingsbury said when asked about Tuberville.
Then when asked about if he’ll be meeting with the former coach who compared Lubbock to Iraq, Kingsbury said the following:
“I don't know how that's going to work. We'll see.”
TWO QUESTIONS
Can the Red Raiders post over 50 points once again?
This matchup is perhaps the hardest challenge the Red Raiders will face on offense. The Houston defense, led by Oliver, will look to slow down the Air Raid offense, but who has the upper hand?
The Red Raiders have score over 50 points in the first two games of the year so far. Shimonek’s high-octane passing attack is lethal, but Houston’s defense has been effective this year. They held Arizona to only 16 points while keeping Rice to just a field goal and 242 yards of offense. Shimonek may find it difficult to score on the Cougars, but can he find a way to surpass the 50-point mark and come out with a win? That will have a lot riding on the run game and defense of Texas Tech.
How much of a threat is the Kyle Allen led Houston offense?
Allen doesn’t put up the insane numbers that Shimonek does, but that’s because he really doesn’t have to with that defense behind him. He was once the No. 1 recruited QB out of high school and landed in Houston after transferring from Texas A&M. He has a solid 1,000-yard receiver from last season in WR Linnell Bonner and a rushing attack that is well balanced with a near 300-yard total on the year.
The Cougar defense makes the offense better in a sense that Allen and company aren’t a huge threat, but they can score enough to rely on the defense to close out games.
ONE PREDICTION
Red Raiders will rush for over 100 yards
In Texas Tech’s season opener, the Red Raider running back committee rushed for a combined 177 yards. Against Arizona State, the Red Raiders rushed for 72 yards, a significant decrease. This week, I’m going to place my bet on the running back unit, led by RB Desmond Nisby, to surpass the 100-yard mark for the second time this season.
The defensive line for Houston are run stoppers, but I have confidence in Kingsbury’s play calling to knockout some big gains off of play action. A balanced attack will secure a Red Raider win with ease like they did against Eastern Washington. Without the run game, we may be in store for another down-to-the-wire competition like last week. If they happens, the only question will be if the Red Raider offense can drive like it did against the Sun Devil defense and score late.