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Texas Tech Football: Can QB upgrade get Red Raiders back to bowl?

By Chris Peterson

WACO, TEXAS - OCTOBER 12: Head coach Matt Wells of the Texas Tech Red Raiders on the sidelines during the game against the Baylor Bears on October 12, 2019 in Waco, Texas. (Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images)
WACO, TEXAS - OCTOBER 12: Head coach Matt Wells of the Texas Tech Red Raiders on the sidelines during the game against the Baylor Bears on October 12, 2019 in Waco, Texas. (Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images) /

Can the defense do enough?

Defense is the worry for many Big 12 football teams and that’s one the primary concerns about Texas Tech heading into 2021.

One bit of good news for the Red Raiders is that they will be very experienced on that side of the ball as 11 of their 13 leading tacklers are back from last season. Texas Tech wasn’t great on defense a year ago but perhaps the biggest issue was a lack of turnovers.

The Red Raiders forced just one turnover per game on defense, while the offense averaged 1.9 giveaways per game. If you average being minus one in turnover ratio, it’s going to be hard to win games and that led directly to another losing campaign.

In the three years prior, Tech averaged 2.2, 1.5 and 1.6 forced turnovers per game. So last season is likely just an anamoly, especially with so much returning experience. Colin Schooler is among the top defenders and led Texas Tech with 3.5 sacks. He also had five tackles for loss and two forced fumbles.

The Red Raiders did lose their top DB to the NFL draft, but Texas Tech will have some experience in the secondary led by Demarcus Fields, who notched a team-high 10 passes defensed a year ago.

It’s the same system and the same DC, as well as many of the same players, so progression and development will be the name of the game.

This defense isn’t going to be dominant, but it can get stops and if it finds a way to force more turnovers, that should be more than enough to get Tech back to a winning record.

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