Habe on the Horns
By Steve Habel/Associate Editor
If there was ever a time for the Texas offense to have a breakout game, it’s Saturday in Lubbock.
After all, the Red Raiders are among the worst defensive teams in the nation and surrendered 82 points last week in a loss to TCU.
Every one of Tech’s first eight [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]opponents have scored at least three touchdowns on the Red Raiders’ defense, and four teams – Arkansas, Oklahoma State, Kansas State and TCU – have racked up 45 points or more.
And the Longhorns can score and can move the ball, despite the fact that they were shutout last week by Kansas State. But given the inconsistency of Texas quarterback Tyrone Swoopes, who will get his first start in the west Texas wind tunnel, success for the Horns’ offense is anything but a sure thing.
Texas defensive coordinator Vance Bedford warned that the Red Raiders likely feel like they have little – if anything – to lose and could dial up some wild attack to throw doubt into Swoopes’ head.
“I can promise you that the (Tech) defensive staff and those players, they’re not excited about giving up 82 points,” Bedford said. “They’re going to come out against us and come after our offense pretty quick.”
But the wild card in the Texas-Texas Tech dustup on the South Plains is on the other side of the ball – can the Horns’ defense, which has carried the team for most of the season and is beginning to show signs of the wear and tear involved with such a burden – keep the Red Raiders off the board enough for Texas to leave Lubbock with a crucial, momentum building victory?
Tech’s offense is a mishmash of styles, rooted in the wide-open concepts of former coach Mike Leach, who mentored current coach Kliff Kingsbury.
“They want to throw a ball out there, spread you from sideline to sideline and use all 53 yards and get open,” Bedford said. “There’ll be some high-low concepts just like we faced last week against Kansas State.”
Any game on the road has its pitfalls but the trip to the Hub City brings more than most. Just playing in Lubbock is a crapshoot, and the Tech fans love nothing more than beating Texas. This week’s game sold out on Aug. 6, and there won’t be much burnt-orange and white among the 60,454 expected to cram into Jones AT&T Stadium.
“Lubbock’s always a difficult place to play,” Texas defensive end Cedric Reed said. “And with it being a Halloween game, it’ll be a lot more intimidating. They throw tortillas at you. They do a lot of different stuff, man. It’s just a very loud crowd. They’ve got a lot of students in the stadium. There’s not much out in Lubbock but football, so you know everybody’s packed in that little stadium.”
With a tough stretch ahead – home contests against West Virginia and TCU and a road tilt at Oklahoma State – it’s imperative that the Horns find some way to outplay the Red Raiders and capture their fourth win of the year. A win in this game will help Texas right the ship and build for the future; a loss would be nothing short of disastrous.
The feeling here is that Texas will do just enough – via a defensive or special-teams touchdown late in the game – to beat Tech. But they cannot afford to take the Red Raiders for anything less than what they are: a wounded team looking to make amends in front of their home fans.
Winning this game means everything to the Tech program. Does it carry the same weight on the 40 Acres?
Just sayin’, ya know?
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