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Texas Tech Preview
November 04, 2015 11:46 AM | Football
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Do you remember that flag football game you once played when neither team could stop the other? Well, Saturday’s West Virginia-Texas Tech game at Milan Puskar Stadium is shaping up to be just like one of those.
If you’re at the stadium, you might want to consider making your concession stand run during pregame or halftime. Otherwise, you might miss something important.
Yes, points are likely to come in bunches on Saturday afternoon.
“(West Virginia defensive coordinator Tony Gibson) is back there pulling his hair out because he has to prepare for another top-three team in the country when it comes to total yards, passing attack and points scored,” said West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen Tuesday afternoon.
Texas Tech has the third-best offense in the country. Numbers one and two - Baylor and TCU – are now in West Virginia’s rearview mirror.
It’s rare for a conference to have two teams this late in the season averaging more than 600 yards per game.
But three?
Are you kidding?
Statistical Comparison
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The 5-4 Red Raiders are doing their best to hang with the Bears and Horned Frogs by averaging 604.6 yards, 414.0 passing yards and 47.3 points per game.
Mike Leach protégé Kliff Kingsbury has his foot on the gas pedal at all times, no matter what the situation or circumstances.
“The biggest thing that we have to do is play to the whistle on defense because they will keep it alive and swing the ball all over the place,” noted Holgorsen. “It is a big challenge for our defense, and it is a big challenge for our defensive coaches to get a plan together to be able to slow them down.”
Compounding matters is what Gibson has to work with right now. He lost arguably the Big 12’s best defender, Karl Joseph, before the Oklahoma State game, and his once-deep secondary has been pared down to reserves and call-ups.
If the game was played on Tuesday, Gibson would be in full-blown scramble mode to field 11 healthy guys.
“We don’t have enough to play today, but hopefully we’ll get some guys healthy by the end of the week,” he said.
“I’m not playing out there,” added Holgorsen. “They are not going to suit me up to go out there and play. We have to get those guys ready to go, and we have talked about this a lot. When these backups have an opportunity to go out there and play – nobody cares if they’re young and inexperienced – they have to get out there and play.”
Senior corner Terrell Chestnut has been battling a bad shoulder for the last couple of weeks and had to come out of the TCU game. Daryl Worley, KJ Dillon and Shaq Petteway have also been battling ailments, meaning unfamiliar names have had to play a significant number of snaps against some of the best offenses in the country.
In fact, backup linebacker Marvin Gross Jr. had to step out and play some safety against TCU to finish the game. That’s not the situation you want your defense to be in when a team like Texas Tech comes to town.
“Right now if we were in the NFL and we could get some corners in here through the waiver wire we probably would have to,” said Gibson.
“And safeties,” he added.
Texas Tech’s Big Three on offense are quarterback Patrick Mahomes II (260 of 402 passing for 3,331 yards and 25 touchdowns), slot receiver Jakeem Grant (69 catches for 952 yards and five touchdowns) and running back DeAndre Washington (940 yards rushing and nine touchdowns).
Mahomes is not as fast as TCU’s Trevone Boykin or as versatile as Baylor’s Seth Russell, but he can beat you with his feet and his arm. The Red Raiders have scored 50 or more points in a game five times so far this season, including twice in losses to TCU and Oklahoma State.
What Texas Tech does offensively is a little bit different than what West Virginia has already faced against Baylor and TCU, according to Gibson.
Texas Tech Statistical Leaders
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#5 Patrick Mahomes III 6-3 | 219 | So. | QB Passing: 260-of-402, 3,331 Yards, 25 TDs, 12 INTs |
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#21 DeAndre Washington 5-8 | 200 | Sr. | RB Rushing: 147 Att., 932 Yards, 6.3 Avg., 9 TDs |
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#11 Jakeem Grant 5-7 | 168 | Sr. | WR Receiving: 69 Rec., 952 Yards, 13.8 Avg., 5 TDs |
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#40 Dakota Allen 6-2 | 224 | Fr. | LB Tackles: 82 Total, 44 Solo |
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#10 Pete Robertson 6-3 | 239 | Sr. | LB Tackles for Loss: 11.5 Total, 4.0 Sacks |
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#3 J.J. Gaines 6-0 | 179 | Sr. | DB Interceptions: 4, 2 Pass Breakups |
“The only thing similar about them is they all score points and move the ball,” he said. “They all have their own wrinkle. Boykin is different than any quarterback we’ve played. Baylor is different because of their splits and the different things they do, and this one coming in this week it’s got its own twist.
“That slot receiver, Grant, is as good as we’ve played against, I think. He makes plays; Mahomes keeps plays alive and their tailback (Washington) is really good. Those three guys can hurt you.”
Consequently, it’s going to come down to West Virginia’s offense being able to match what Texas Tech’s offense does on Saturday.
That may be a little easier to accomplish this weekend considering what the Red Raiders have been able to do (or not do) to slow down other teams. If not for Kansas, Texas Tech would easily have the worst defense in the Big 12 – and both have been historically bad.
The Red Raiders are giving up 572.7 yards and 43.4 points per game, including a staggering 270.7 yards per game on the ground.
By comparison, that makes West Virginia’s 2012 defense that gave up 473.6 yards and 38.1 points per game look like the Steel Curtain.
Air has done a better job of stopping opposing offenses than Texas Tech so far, which means West Virginia is going to have figure out a way to get into the end zone more frequently than it has in its losses to Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Baylor and TCU.
The Thursday night defeat at TCU was especially stinging because the Mountaineers had several opportunities to make big plays against the Horned Frogs and couldn’t. A number of dropped passes that could have scored touchdowns contributed to West Virginia’s 40-10 loss to the No. 3-rated Horned Frogs.
If there are more drops on Saturday, the 3-4 Mountaineers could dig themselves into another deep hole out of which they cannot climb.
“We didn’t match a single score against TCU,” explained Holgorsen. “Every time they scored, we punted. There were two points in the second period when we stopped them, and it was a great opportunity for our offense to score as well. When we have opportunities, we have to take advantage of the opportunities.”
Holgorsen continued.
“If it gets into a situation where they score and score, like Baylor did in the third quarter, then, offensively, we need to have the mentality that it does no matter what our defense does. We have to go out there and match those scores.”
It’s clear West Virginia is going to have scoring opportunities on Saturday, the question is will the Mountaineers be able to capitalize on them and keep up with the Red Raiders?
And, will the defense be able to slow down Texas Tech enough to help a young offense along, or, at least long enough to allow fans time to get a hot dog and a soft drink when they make their trip to the concession stand?
We’ll see.
Kickoff is at noon and the game will be televised nationally on Fox Sports 1. The Mountaineer Sports Nework from IMG’s pregame coverage begins with the Mountaineer Tailgate Show at 8:30 a.m. leading into regular game coverage with Tony Caridi, Dwight Wallace and Jed Drenning at 11 a.m.
There are still tickets remaining and those can be purchased through the Mountaineer Ticket Office by calling 1-800-WVU GAME or by logging on to WVUGAME.com.
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