Big 12 Syllabus Series: Texas Tech Red Raiders
By Zach Pugh
When Tommy Tuberville took over the Red Raiders in 2010, one of the first comments he made was about taking Texas Tech to the next level. His high expectations shouldn’t have been surprising to anyone who was aware of his time at Auburn, where he went 85-40 with the famous 13-0 season of 2004.
Last season was certainly a drop off from the 8-5 record in Tuberville’s first season. After beginning the season with a 5-2 record that included a victory over Oklahoma, the Red Raiders struggled with inconsistencies on offense and just an all around bad defense, which caused the team to finish 5-7. Its 2011 was the first year since 1992 TTU finished with a losing record.
The big story coming into the 2012 season is the hot seat coach Tuberville is on. Texas Tech fans are not used to losing seasons and while the program hasn’t been in the national title race every year, a 13-12 record in two years is a big drop off from the success they enjoyed with Mike Leach around.
Mike Leach was able to coach the Red Raiders to eight consecutive eight win seasons, four nine win seasons, nine consecutive bowl appearances and 10 consecutive winning seasons. TTU defended their home field well under Leach as well, going 53-11. The point is, a 5-7 finish after a 4-1 start is something the fans in Lubbock haven’t experienced. It’s understandable for pressure to face Tuberville in his third year.
The spotlight is on senior quarterback Seth Doege. Doege has great accuracy, but showed inconsistencies in his game last season. You can look at the Oklahoma game last season to see just how dangerous he can be. His 28 touchdowns to 10 interceptions gives reason for the offense to be confident in the possible production, but Doege had two very rough games against Iowa State and Kansas State. It’s definitely not a knock on him and two games doesn’t account for the whole season, but that type of inconsistency will lead TTU to another below .500 finish.
Doege and the offense can be very potent, however, the potency of the offensive attack won’t matter if the defense can’t step up, and it won’t matter if they score 30 plus points a game.
3 & Out
1st Down: Where Does Seth Doege rank among Big 12 quarterbacks?
With the absence of Brandon Weeden and Robert Griffin III, both NFL talents, Doege has the chance to receive a lot of spotlight among Big 12 quarterbacks. In 2011, Doege ranked third in the Big 12 behind Weeden and RG3 in completion percentage and ranked third behind Landry Jones and Weeden in yards per game. There’s no denying Doege’s importance to the Red Raiders last season. If it wasn’t for two new additions to the conference this year (Casey Pachall & Geno Smith), Doege would be second amongst Big 12 quarterbacks coming into the 2012 season. It’s difficult to say for sure how well Pachall and Smith will do facing new defenses, but as far as pre-season conference quarterback rankings, Doege is fourth behind Geno Smith, Landry Jones and Casey Pachall.
2nd Down: Will defense be the downfall again?
Even as inconsistent as the offense was last season there shouldn’t be an argument against how the defense doomed TTU after their 5-2 start. The defense was the biggest problem, finishing 114th in the nation in 117th in scoring, giving up 39 points per game. Ten starters will be returning, as the only player lost from the 2011 squad was end Scott Smith. The pass rush needs to be much better if the Red Raiders have any hopes of competing in the Big 12. The linebacker group needs to step up and received a huge boost when JUCO transfer Will Smith came to Lubbock. Smith had an outstanding spring and has impressed head coach Tommy Tuberville with his dominate performance. When the head coach thinks you can be the best linebacker on the team, that’s a great sign. New defensive coordinator Art Kaufman will move the defense to a 4-3 scheme and hopes to bring some consistency to the program. Kaufman is Texas Tech’s fourth defensive coordinator in the last four years.
3rd Down: When is the heat on for Tuberville?
If this team is anything less than 3-0 going into their first conference game against Iowa State, the heat should and probably will be on. TTU has the easiest non-conference schedule in the Big 12, opening up at home against Northwestern State, then they travel to San Marcos to take on Texas State and travel back home to take on New Mexico. The Red Raiders then have a bye before they begin their conference schedule on the road against Iowa State. It’s very realistic for TTU to begin the season at 4-0 once again. The defense won’t be tested until they play Oklahoma on Oct. 6th. Tuberville wants to take this program to the next level and certainly has done a good job recruiting, the 2011 class comes to mind, which finished 20th in the nation. Even the 2012 class was 26th in the nation. Taking a team to the next level can take a few recruiting classes, but fans in Lubbock will get very impatient if the 2012 version doesn’t get at least seven or eight wins. With eight wins, it wouldn’t seem Tuberville would remain on the hot seat. If he can coach his team to a bowl victory in 2012, he can buy himself another year.