Morning Coffee Preps For Tech
by Peter Bean on Nov 6, 2007 8:43 AM CST
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The injuries are mounting for the 2007 Longhorns heading into the final two games of the season. Center Dallas Griffin is out for the year, nickelback Drew Kelson will not be available for Texas Tech, and Eddie Jones' shoulder continues to give him problems. Mum's the word on Sergio Kindle, but Texas fans probably shouldn't count on him playing Saturday. If he does, it'd be a huge, huge bonus for a team which could desperately use his playmaking abilities.
After a statistically strong start to the season for the Texas pass defense, the wheels are beginning to loosen. If the 'Horns don't get pressure on Graham Harrell on Saturday, they might fly right off. After Nebraska managed 8.3 yards per pass against the Longhorns, Zac Robinson and Oklahoma State torched the Texas defense for a whopping 10.2 yards per pass attempt. That's wretched against any team; if matched Saturday against Tech, it will be fatal.
Who's to blame? No one's without fault here. Texas' defensive ends haven't done a great job getting pressure on the quarterback, the well-document linebacker problems allow opponents to double team our DTs with impunity, Palmer and Foster have performed less solidly as the quality of opponents has increased, and the safeties are struggling mightily. And then there is Duane Akina, who is doing his best Carl Reese impression these days - blindly slinging bodies into heaps of blockers on kamikaze blitzes, leaving Texas vulnerable to screens and passes like the throwback to the tight end which the Cowboys used to scorch the 'Horns.
Is there any good news? There's at least one bright spot: Deon Beasley is emerging as a superstar cornerback. He'll need lots of help on Saturday, though, as Mike Leach is surely licking his chops looking at the Texas pass defense right now. Odds of a shootout in Austin? 99%.
Texas Tech is not without problems of its own, of course. The bizarre feud between Mike Leach and Shannon Woods took another interesting twist this week as Leach announced that last year's all-purpose yards leader in the Big 12 would remain on the scout team for the remainder of the season. Woods did not travel with the team to Waco this past Saturday. I thought Woods was a player Leach used far too infrequently this season - it wouldn't surprise me if Woods had similar feelings and let them be known. Whatever the case, he's done for this year; a transfer wouldn't surprise me in the least.
After a painful two game stretch against the Big 12 North in which Graham Harrel threw just 4 touchdowns against 8 interceptions, the nation's touchdown leader returned to form last week against Baylor with 3 TDs and no turnovers. For the season, Harrell has 11 TDs and 0 INTs against Big 12 squads (Oklahoma State, A&M, Baylor). Here's to hoping Texas performs more like Missouri and Colorado than their counterparts in the South.
Last, but not least, the Longhorns are primed to catch and surpass Notre Dame on the all-time wins list this season.
--PB--
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Strangely Enough
I'm not so worried about this weekend. The injuries are going to hurt us, but the Tech game has always been somewhat scary the last few years and we seem to navigate our way through it.
Our defense is suspect, but I think they'll make the stops when they NEED to. Plus, they're too one-dimensional and if they try and shake things up by going to the run more than normal, I think that hurts them more than it does us.
On the other side of the ball, Tech's defense isn't playing all that great, and I think we'll take advantage (at some point during the game).
Shootout? Definitely. But I'm pretty confident think we come out on top.
I've always thought
that Texas Tech is one of those benchmark games for D Coordinators at Texas.
Reese had mixed results, but for the most part was pretty terrible. Texas would be up on Tech early and Reese would deploy his comfort fit extra soft zone defense, allowing Tech to hang a quick 28. I still see red watching the Patriots convert 3rd downs with that scampering midget Wes Welker.
Robinson did a fantastic job. He used a non-stop rotation of fresh bodies to pound and collapse on the Tech O-line/QB. Leach's splits and empty backfields can't hold up against a deep team like Texas. Robinson did the logical thing by taking advantage of Mack's roster. Why other coordinators at Texas haven't ever figured this out is a discussion for another day.
Chizik was so-so. 2005 doesn't quite count, because Leach's sphincter puckered against a VY attack. He was punting on 2nd down trying to keep his team out of a blow-out and didn't play his usual game.
I guess we'll see how Akina does. He's shown he can adjust much better than Reese, despite last weekend's debacle. My only problem with Akina is that his early game scheme's force an adjustment at half-time.. The defense doesn't get off the bus until the 3rd quarter.
JCharles
Needs to get about 30 carries this game. He will slow the game down and ultimately be breaking of nice chunks of yardage that will tire out the Tech defense. If we slow the game down, we win no question about it.
Run, run and run a little more.
Tech gave up big yardage on the ground in each of their 3 losses. Oklahoma State ran for 366 on 61 carries for an average of 6 ypc. Missouri ran for 212 yards on 50 carries for an average of 4.2 ypc. Also, Colorado ran for 217 yards on 44 carries for an average of 4.9 ypc. In each of those three losses, the opposing team controlled the clock by running the ball down Tech's throat.
The Texas running game seems to have found it's stride over the past few weeks. Oddly enough, Texas is now AVERAGING 198 yards rushing per game for the season. I would love to see Jamaal get 25 carries, Vondrell get 12 carries, Obi Wan get 5 carries and let Colt run between 5 and 7 times also. I really think running the ball early and often this week will allow the offense to have a balance that Tech will not be able to stop. This is the week for the team to take control of the ballgame early, thus relieving some of the pressure on the defense.
Counter current
Where Texas has had it's best success against Tech has been when it jumped to a good lead.
However, the current edition has not had the luxury of good early leads. Not to demean great comebacks whatsoever, but beating Tech almost requires the Horns to get on top and stay there. Tech is most dangerous when left in the game by late in the third quarter. So, my fear factor is alive and well at this point. And by saying this, I hope I haven't jinxed them to a point we're looking at a 21 point deficit by halftime.
Tech has the best pass defense because they practice against it all the time. And, likewise, their scout team probably does not replicate serious opponent ground games, so this is the real weakness from which their vulnerability springs.
The Horns have yet to demonstrate a pressure defense that they have traditionally used against the Techs of the world: DBs and safeties nearly face up on receivers, extra pressure from LBs. To do that someone must cover Crabtree one-on-one; and the DBs must have enough speed to cover deeper if Harrell rolls out or gets time for whatever reason.
So, I'm not visualizing how the Horns will contend with this edition. So far, I'm leaning to the shoot out scenario. Tech always spooks me to some degree.
out-athlete Tech and stay home
When it comes down to it, we ought to beat Tech for the same reason we've been able to take care of business against them latetly...because we have better athletes. This takes a bit of a hit if Kindle, Norton, and Kelson are not available however. Still we've got better atheletes on the d-line than they have faced this season (Lokey, Okam, Orakpo, and Houston) and I like the presence of Muckelroy on the edge. The key to this game - as it always is against Tech - is to keep our guys fresher and make their offense work for every possession. The big key on defense will be how well the 'horns stay home on the weak side of the defense. Tech will run a lot of screens and will cross across coverage all day long. The key for us will be to not over-pursue. We've done a great job of this for the most part against Tech and it was a noticeable adjustment after halftime of last year.
On offense, it comes down to atheletes once again. Tech's defensive numbers against the pass are highly skewed because teams have been able to enforce thier will at the line of scrimmage. Most teams have employed a balanced to run oriented approach to keep the ball out of the Harrell's hands and it has been effective. To me, this sets up once again as the type of game that will be close early on, but Texas should dominate late.
For those watching on television
we're getting another dose of Ed Cunningham Saturday. It figures to be at least a four hour game, giving Ed lots of time to talk. Stock up on the beer.
Hook 'em
by FutureMan on Nov 6, 2007 2:48 PM CST reply actions
Peter,
Are you coming to Austin for the game?
by Red Blooded @ Burnt Orange Nation on Nov 6, 2007 4:57 PM CST reply actions
Secondary...?
One thing we know about Leach is that no matter what, he will pass a lot. PB is right -- Beasley has been showing a lot of promise lately, but Foster and Palmer are a bit more suspect. Deficiencies with the LBs have been more than well documented. No doubt Texas should work to establish the run, but does Akina (or anyone else) have any ideas on how to slow down the Tech passing attack?
by TxFight on Nov 6, 2007 7:40 PM CST reply actions
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