2007: Another year, another bowl trip for Mike Leach’s Red Raiders and their “Air Raid” offense. Yet Texas Tech still can’t find the consistency to make itself a power as shown by losses against Mizzou and the Cowboys, despite beating the Sooners. The season can’t be considered a letdown though, as they came away with a victory over Virginia in the Gator Bowl.
Strengths: It’s a rare thing for Texas Tech to come into a season fully loaded on offense, but this year will be outside the norm. The Red Raiders are returning 10 starters for their aerial attack…by far the most Leach has ever had come back in his nine seasons in Lubbock.
The most important piece of the Red Raider offense has to be senior gunslinger Graham Harrell, who threw for 5,705 yards and had a touchdown to interception ratio of 48:14.
Returning with him is three of his four wide outs from last year. Harrell’s favorite target, Michael Crabtree, caught a national freshman record of 134 passes for 1,962 yards and 22 scores. Along side of the phenom will be Eric Morris and Edward Britton. That duo accounted for 1,398 yards and 13 touchdowns.
As set as the skill positions are for this squad, nothing would really work if the line wasn’t coming back complete from 2007. And there is something to be said for an offensive line that averages 331 pounds per man.
Weaknesses: There are a lot of problems that revolve around the running game. The offense doesn’t seem to know how to do it and the defense can’t seem to stop it.
Let’s be honest with ourselves here, the Red Raiders don’t know how to run the ball. When they have a lead late in a game, they’re still passing. This mindset killed TT in a 49-45 heartbreaker at Oklahoma State last season.
Shannon Woods is listed as the incumbent in the backfield, but Aaron Crawford took over midway through the year. And neither were worth cooing over by compiling just 653 yards on the ground with 12 touchdowns.
Now this isn’t either Woods or Crawford’s fault…this really falls onto Leach trying to utilize the rushing attack to hold onto a lead better. Time will tell if he uses veteran o-line to his advantage.
Texas Tech’s rushing defense isn’t anything to write home about either. The Red Raiders’ defense allowed 171.0 rushing yards per game in 2007, which wasn’t the worst in the Big XII. This unit has the chance of improving this year thanks to Ruffin McNeill’s promotion to defensive coordinator. He’s a longtime assistant and the players like him a lot. While popularity contests won’t improve a unit that 25.8 points per game, it will go a long way to snuffing out comebacks that have happened in the past.
Players to Watch: Crabtree took the nation by storm with the numbers he put up as a freshman. Now he’s going to be the top target of anyone, on the field or off. There is no doubt he’ll be double teamed by opponents all season long. While that will help his fellow receivers in getting some catches, Crabtree will still be the main option all year long. If he can put up numbers close to what he did as a freshman, he might be a Heisman candidate in 208.
Returning Starters: 19 (10 on offense, 8 on defense, one specialist)
Schedule: If you want to see cream puffs on a schedule, look no further than the Red Raiders. Opening the season against Eastern Washington, at Nevada, SMU and Massachusetts will assure an unbeaten September. Yet road tilts at Kansas and Oklahoma, along with having Texas at home, will dictate how successful the season can actually be.
Let Down: November 29 versus Baylor. Texas Tech will be coming off of a matchup with the Sooners where it could be for the Big XII South title. Baylor will be under first year coach Art Briles, but could be pesky enough to keep the game close enough to make bettors sweat.
Look Ahead: October 18 at Texas A&M. Keeping with that first year coach trend, I give you the Aggies. The Red Raiders will no doubt be thinking about a road tilt with Kansas the following weekend. Now it could be a blowout in Mike Sherman’s inaugural season in College Station. But if the Aggies can adapt to his schemes quickly, this could be a major bump in the road.
Good Bets:
Sept. 6 at Nevada…The Red Raiders have been great against teams in the WAC, going 8-1 SU. But they’re also 16-3 against teams out of conference.
Oct. 11 vs. Nebraska…The overall record against the Huskers isn’t all that great for Texas Tech (2-7). Yet those two wins came in the most recent meetings.
Prediction: Times are looking good for the Red Raiders this season as they should have no problem running well into the Top 10 with nine straight winnable games. However, expectations will be tempered when playing the Jayhawks, Longhorns and Sooners. Still, a 9-3 record will be impressive when you consider the depth of talent that is running wild in the Big XII.
You can reach Judd Hall via e-mail at judd@vegasinsider.com
