West Virginia football looks to remain in Big 12 title hunt vs. Texas Tech

West Virginia football is surging and hoping to stay in the Big 12 title race with a road victory over Texas Tech.

One of the surprising bright spots from the Big 12 has been the progression of the West Virginia Mountaineers. In year one under Neal Brown, there was some encouraging signs in Morgantown. The Stills brothers were notable, as Darius is the frontrunner as the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year.

West Virginia has quietly started 3-1 with a lone loss on the road to No. 6 Oklahoma State. Maybe the best running back in the conference has been Leddie Brown. He has carried the Mountaineers’ offense, rushing for 516 yards and five touchdowns through their first four contests.

Their defense has been the stars as they have not given up more than 17 points in regulation this season. The Mountaineers are near the top in every statistical category in the conference, including second in points, passing defense, and third in total defense, behind Oklahoma State and Baylor.

For the Red Raiders, they have been on the opposite end of the spectrum, especially over the past two weeks. After struggles with Iowa State and Kansas State, Texas Tech has turned to Utah State transfer Henry Colombi after Alan Bowman struggled.

Texas Tech is statistically the worst defense in the conference, giving up 39.5 points per game and nearly 500 yards each week.

At times, the Red Raiders have a hard time finding consistency, where Colombi has been able to help. All-Big 12 receiver TJ Vasher hasn’t put up the stats were used to (163 yards and two touchdowns).

One of the main concerns for the Red Raiders have been their inability to create turnovers. Texas Tech has forced just three turnovers, one of the lowest numbers in the country for teams that have played as much as the Red Raiders have.

A nice surprise for the Red Raiders have been the play of Krishon Merriweather. He leads the team in tackles and tackles for loss with 33 and 3.5, respectively. Him alongside Riko Jeffries (No. 7 in the Big 12 in tackles last season) anchor a unit that is far and away their strongest.

With Colombi’s short term success and West Virginia’s lack of explosion at receiver could turn this into one of the more underrated games on Saturday’s slate.

Here’s how to watch the game between the Red Raiders and Mountaineers:

Date: Saturday, Oct. 24
Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
Location: Lubbock, Texas
Venue: Jones AT&T Stadium
Channel: ESPN 2
Live Stream: WatchESPN

Keys to Victory

It had been addressed previously, but Texas Tech has to force turnovers. West Virginia quarterback Jarret Doege had an issue with this against Baylor, so there’s a reason for optimism. Doege had two interceptions and was striped twice by a Baylor defense that isn’t quite as good as last year’s.

Stealing possessions and using somewhat of a crowd as momentum is the key to winning games in 2020. Texas Tech has to do that well.

Another key is getting your best player involved. Vasher had just two catches for 10 yards in Texas Tech’s loss after being unable to play against Iowa State.

Over the past decade, Texas Tech’s best chance of winning games is getting into track meets with other teams. Tech has the playmakers to do that, but needs someone to give them the ball.

This game is a big opportunity for Doege to establish himself as an above average quarterback in the conference. Although the Bowling Green transfer hasn’t done bad, on tape, he hasn’t had a dominant performance through his first nine games. If West Virginia wants to be a conference contender, having one of those from your senior quarterback can be a moral boost.

Being able to throw for 318 yards and three touchdowns against Kansas, is a stat line many other quarterbacks in the conference are capable of doing. Although Texas Tech isn’t an elite defense, a confidence building performance would be big for Doege.

Prediction

In their lone road game this season, West Virginia struggled on the offense and couldn’t contain the duo of Tylan Wallace and Chuba Hubbard.

Their struggles will continue on the offensive end. Leddie Brown gets two clutch red zone touchdowns and Doege throws a touchdown to Bryce Ford-Wheaton. This game is a come out party for Colombi, as he is able to control the offense and put together good, consistent drives.

Although, it doesn’t show on the score board, Colombi plays better than expected. He passes for three touchdowns, while connecting with Vasher for two of them and KeSean Carter with the other.

Texas Tech cannot pull off the upset late as West Virginia holds on in Lubbock.

FInal Score: West Virginia 31, Texas Tech 24