Football games are won and lost at the line of scrimmage. Physicality and toughness has been the mantra since head coach Joey McGuire took over at Texas Tech. On either side of the ball are two of the most critical players for this Red Raider squad: Tony Bradford and Dennis Wilburn.
With a 1-2 record heading into the conference opener at West Virginia, it was made evident what has been working for Tech on either side of the ball. Offensively, the front line had its best showing of the season against Tarleton State, leading the way for Tahj Brooks to have a career night of 19 carries and 158 yards. Run blocking has been the strength of this season’s rendition of the offensive line.
“Oh man, it’s great,” Wilburn said after Tech’s Tuesday morning practice. “There’s nothing better than blocking your opponent and then you just look up, and the running back is gone down the field. That’s one of the best feelings, you gotta get happy for them. I feel good about it, I feel good about the run game.”
Despite the success of the run game and how effective the offensive line has been in that regard, there are still questions about the fortitude of that group in the passing game. The Red Raiders are 13th in the Big 12 in sacks allowed (10). Wilburns knows this group is capable of protecting their quarterback.
“We know what to do, we just got to do it,” Wilburn said. “That’s it. We can call it out on film and everything. We just need to go out and execute.”
It is a similar story on the other side of the neutral zone for the Red Raiders. All eyes have been fixated directly on the pass rush, McGuire even mentioning in his Monday press conference the desire to see more production out of outside linebacker Steve Linton. The glaring issues in the pass rush have been stealing the thunder from Tech’s run stopping ability. Oregon’s dynamic running back duo of Bucky Irving and Noah Whittington were mostly kept in check two weeks ago. Facing West Virginia will bring its own challenges, however, with the Mountaineers relying more on their star rusher CJ Donaldson this season. Though Tech ran the Mountaineers out of the building in a 48-10 win last season, improvements by West Virginia have been made since then.
“I’ve noticed they’ve gotten completely better,” Bradford said. “They’ve improved their game a lot more since the last time we played them. Looking forward to going out there and competing with those guys. They like to run the ball, we like to stop the run… They obviously got a lot of trust in their offensive line and in their running backs. They have a lot of trust in them, our coaches have a lot of trust in our front seven. It’s gonna be a good battle.”
The words “pass rush lanes” have become a prevalent piece of Red Raider vernacular, whether they be spoken in good or bad context. Pressure has been coming but finishing the job and bringing down the opposing quarterback has been an entirely different story. A turning point may have been seen with Myles Cole tallying two sacks against Tarleton State. Pass rush lanes have been brought up in extensive detail as they relate to the edge rushers, but Bradford and the defensive tackles are not exempt from those conversations, either.
“I think it’s just more of guys having more attention to detail and what they’re doing when they’re pass rushing,” Bradford said. “Understanding that there’s a rare opportunity where you’re going to be the one to make a quick move and get to the quarterback as fast as you think you can. It’s going to take all of us together to collapse that pocket and then for us to work together to get a sack.
“Getting a sack is a team effort. I can’t be out of my rush lanes and then we got guys on the edge rushing their butts off and then the quarterback steps up and runs out in my lane because I’m not doing my job. It’s selfish behavior, we got to figure out a way to make sure that doesn’t happen throughout conference play.”
