November 2, 2011

Dustin McComas
Orangebloods.com Staff

Texas definitely took care of business against a Kansas team that it should have pummeled. This week, the Horns face a little bit of a tougher test, but it will face a Texas Tech team that was embarrassed at home in a 41-7 loss to Iowa State just one week after beating Oklahoma on the road. Is this another matchup that should really favor the Longhorns at home? The film tells the story in this week's "From the Film Room" on the Texas Tech Red Raiders.

Against Iowa State, the Red Raiders had 290 total yards. Tech completed 18-of-38 passes for 191 yards (5.0 yards per attempt) and rushed for 99 yards on 26 carries (3.8 yards per carry). In the turnover battle, the Red Raiders lost out by committing three turnovers including two interceptions by quarterback Seth Doege. ?

OFFENSIVE THOUGHTS

Well, the Red Raiders don't offer a variety of looks. In fact, 87 percent of all the offensive snaps came out of the shotgun with one running back positioned to the right or left of the quarterback, and four receivers. More often than not, Tech would line up with two receivers on each side, but did mix in trips receivers to one side with one single receiver to the other side consistently as well.

No matter what the score was, the Red Raiders still tried to play extremely fast on offense. Since they consistently used the same formations, it allowed them to get to the line of scrimmage very quickly. And since they played so fast, there was hardly any pre-snap adjustments made. The play that was going to be run was the play that was called almost all of the time.

Consistently in the running game out of the shotgun, Texas Tech liked to pull one guard and have him lead through the middle of the offensive line. This allowed the running back to either use him as a lead blocker, or cutback against the direction the offensive lineman was moving. Tech didn't pull more than one lineman at a time.

The route combinations presented by Texas Tech didn't appear to be very complex, and Iowa State's defensive backs did an outstanding job of covering the receivers with man coverage. Tech liked to use combinations that included deep posts from one side of the field coupled with a drag from a slot receiver on the other side of the field. Doege also completed quick hitch routes into zone coverage and was not afraid to challenge the ISU defense vertically whenever he felt like he got single coverage.

Speaking of Doege, he never seemed to be in rhythm. The Tech quarterback looked bothered by the Cyclones' coverage, and was extremely inaccurate on passes down the field. Each time he took a chance on a single coverage fly route down the sideline, it fell incomplete or was intercepted. For as much single coverage as ISU used against the Red Raiders, Tech was not able to exploit it at all.

Surprisingly, Texas Tech and Doege did utilize a zone-read type of running game effectively when they used it. In fact, their only touchdown of the game came when Doege kept the football and ran it in for a touchdown. He's not fast or quick enough to hurt defenses in that area, but Doege wasn't afraid to pull the ball and run when the chance presented itself.

Whenever the Red Raiders lined up with a running back beside the quarterback, he almost always went out into a route; the running back was hardly ever used as a pass protector. Iowa State countered this by not blitzing much and allowing its front four to try to create pressure with tight coverage taking away the quick reads.

The quick screen to the receiver is something that Texas Tech will try to use out of the trips receiver formations.

Whenever Texas Tech comes out in the pistol, or in a formation with a down lineman it's likely to be a run or a very quick pass.

DEFENSIVE THOUGHTS

Texas Tech stuck to its 4-2-5 personnel basically all game long with its three safeties. In order to show different looks, the Red Raiders moved rolled safeties into different areas pre-snap. They also liked to change how many down linemen they showed before the snap. A lot of the time, Tech used two down linemen, both tackles, and stood up players on the edge. At other times, it would be three down linemen, and sometimes it would be four.

Against the run, the Red Raiders never seemed to adjust well all game long, especially against the zone-read type of running game. Too often the down lineman that was left unblocked to read the zone-read play slow-played it, and could never adjust to the ball carrier. Instead of rushing to force Iowa State into a read, Tech waited until Iowa State made the read before adjusting. This allowed the quarterback or the running back to beat that lineman to the hole and into the second level.

One of the other reasons the Red Raiders struggled against the run was that the defensive ends liked to get up field so fast. It was almost like the ISU offensive tackles didn't have to stay with them long when the ball was run between the tackles. Combine that with a scheme that only uses two linebackers, and you've got a recipe for a lot of runs that get to the safeties in a hurry.

Speaking of the linebackers, that unit was not very good at run fits all game long. Too often the Texas Tech linebackers took poor angles and found themselves out of position to make a play in the running game.

Once Iowa State started to really gash the Red Raiders in the running game, Tech started to bring one safety on to the line of scrimmage, or start all of the safeties closer to the line of scrimmage. The blitzing off the edge really picked up in the second half with one safety coming off the edge, but against a quarterback that could move well in the pocket it wasn't successful. When the blitz came, the middle of the field was left wide open because the linebackers didn't get deep into coverage or read the plays well enough.

PLAYERS THAT STOOD OUT

Seth Doege (junior - QB) - The game against Iowa State might have been the worst of his career. Doege, who was unafraid to push the ball down the field against single coverage every time he saw it, just never really seemed to get into a rhythm. Texas Tech designs the offense to get the ball out of his hand quickly, and the ISU press coverage threw everything off. There were times when Doege got hot and the offense really started to roll, but he never really got going. Still, when he's on he can really light up a defense, but rattle him and he's a completely different player.

DeAndre Washington (freshman - RB) - Without Eric Stephens, the Red Raiders are searching for a running back that can carry the load. Washington got the most touches, and was the most effective runner for Tech. He's definitely got the quicks to get to the second level quickly in the running game, and showed the ability to make a defender miss. He's not a game breaker, but he should be an effective part of that offense for the rest of the season.

Alex Torres (junior - WR) - Outstanding, soft hands and a fairly effortless route runner; he's got a fairly big frame and has a knack for getting open.

Leon Mackey (junior - DE) - Mackey showed a really quick first step off the edge, and consistently caused pressure in the pocket on passing plays. He didn't get the benefit from the refs as he was held numerous times, but Mackey was a disruptive force off of the edge. He has one speed and it gets him up the field quickly.

IF I'M TEXAS, I ?

Run. Run. And run some more. This has all the makings of another game in which Texas dominates a weak defense with the running game. Iowa State really didn't even have to get that fancy with its offensive linemen - there was very little pulling to lead block - and yet it was still extremely effective with its rushing game. Against Kansas, Texas briefly utilized David Ash's ability to run the football with some zone-read type of looks. The Longhorns should go to that even more against a Texas Tech team that got destroyed by a dual-threat quarterback, and Fozzy Whittaker's role as a "Wildcat" quarterback should absolutely be utilized. Ash should also have room to run when things break down. Even against a dual-threat quarterback, Tech allowed the quarterback to hurt it when the play broke down.

There is no excuse to abandon the running game this week, especially with all of the success it had for Texas last week. The Texas Tech linebackers did not play the run well at all, and because of Tech's 4-2-5 scheme, getting to the second level should be easier than normal. Once the run is established, there will be chances in the passing game, especially in the middle of the field, but this definitely has the makings of an offensive game plan to run in order to set up the pass.

Defensively, it should be all about the press coverage for the Longhorns. Iowa State's defensive backs were outstanding against the Texas Tech receivers, and basically played a ton of man coverage on the outside all game long. ISU was able to disrupt the rhythm of the Texas Tech offense by placing its defensive backs near the line of scrimmage and giving the appearance that there were a ton of players in coverage near the line of scrimmage. When Doege pushed the ball down the field, he wasn't accurate and the ISU defensive backs made him pay.

Quandre Diggs and Carrington Byndom are both coming off of great games, and their athleticism should allow Manny Diaz to leave them alone on the edge for a majority of the game. The chances to pick off passes will be there

Also, since Texas Tech likes to put the running back into a passing route almost every time, Texas should be judicial with its blitzing. Iowa State didn't blitz a ton, which allowed it to take away the hot routes from Texas Tech. The UT defensive line hasn't been great at getting pressure on the quarterback this year, but this should be a great chance for those four down linemen to create some havoc thanks to the coverage.