Recap: Texas Tech Vs North Dakota

Despondent. The season opening game for Texas Tech against North Dakota left many of the fans with the feeling of profound hopelessness, dejection or discouragement. In other words, Tech fans felt despondent after they left Jones AT&T Stadium Saturday night.

The season opener for Tech against North Dakota had a very auspicious start with new QB Taylor Potts taking the Tech offense down for two straight scores to open the game.

Then everything started to slow down for the Red Raiders. Potts struggled for most of the remainder of the game, throwing three interceptions. They failed to utilize the run game and were not able to put away the Fighting Sioux until the fourth quarter, winning 38-13.

This was Potts' first game as a starter for Tech since he enrolled over three years ago. He failed to impress, with many of the fans expecting to see a bigger version of last year’s QB Graham Harrell.

During Spring practice, Potts seemed to hold on to the ball too long and didn't make the right reads—problems the open Fall practices seemed to have corrected.

The Potts on Saturday night seemed to revert back to the way he played in Spring. Although it was hard to tell if he held on to the ball too long, because of the lack of pressure from North Dakota, he made bad decisions multiple times.

Potts blamed two of the interceptions on throwing off his back foot. Mike Leach countered with his opinion that the throws were "complete guesses" on Potts' part.

He did, however, finish the game with a nice touchdown pass to inside receiver Adam James with only a few minutes left. This pass was placed perfectly and should be a sign of things to come from Potts, who finished 34 of 48 with 405 yards passing with four total touchdowns.

The running game was a disappointing aspect on Saturday, a trait that won’t continue, admitted Leach after the game. Tech boasts a powerful and fast backfield of junior Baron Batch, redshirt freshman Harrison Jeffers and true freshman Eric Stephens.

Batch, the starter, only had 30 yards rushing on nine attempts and one touchdown. Jeffers had 16 yards on two carries and Stephens was unable to gain any yards on his one attempt. The screen game failed to work as well; the backs combining for 42 yards on six passes.

This is a far cry from last year when Tech's RBs averaged over 100 yards on the ground and 50 through the air.

The WRs, led by Detron Lewis and Edward Britton, were a very solid group against the Fighting Sioux. Lewis, the pick to replace Michael Crabtree as the go to guy, was as good as advertised in his first game as an upper classman. He showed elusiveness, speed and great route running Saturday night.

Lewis finished the game with 146 receiving yards on eight catches, but his touchdown play was the most impressive of the night. On a play halfway through the second quarter, he ran a crossing route 10 yards off the line of scrimmage, where Potts found him open in the middle of the field. Lewis was able to get all the way to the sideline and take off for a 49 yard touchdown.

The other impressive WOs in this game were both seeing action for the first time in their career. Redshirt freshman Austin Zouzalik and Alexander Torres showed excellent hands and consistently found the open zones in the defense. It has been said that Zouzalik has the best hands on the team and he proved it Saturday making a couple of great grabs for Potts.

The group needing some work is the OL. This shouldn't be unexpected after losing three starters from last year's line, but it is frustrating because of everything positive reported coming out of Spring and Fall practices.

Seniors Brandon Carter and Marlon Winn were rock solid and played to their potential, but sophomore Mickey Okafor and junior Chris Olson struggled to help the run game get started against North Dakota. 

This should be a point of emphasis as the Texas game is just a few weeks away and Tech will need the same running game they produced last year to give Potts the time he'll need to beat the Longhorns.

The impressive play from Saturday night came from the DL. DEs, led by seniors Ra'jon Henley, Daniel Howard and Brandon Sharpe, were able to get in the backfield throughout the game. The interior of the line, headed by junior Colby Whitlock, was also able to put pressure at will on Jake Landry, North Dakota’s QB.

Though the unit only finished with two sacks, the constant pressure made it hard for the Fighting Sioux to get anything started on offense with only 134 passing yards on 20 completions. The unit also stifled the RBs, keeping them to just 73 yards on 29 attempts.

LBs for Tech had their bright spots, but speed will become an issue later in the year for them. The starters are all sure tacklers, but when asked to cover slot receivers and backs on routes they have trouble staying within reach.

MLB Brian Duncan is the type of leader you want on the field. He knows his assignments, but along with Sr Marlon Williams and Jr Bront Bird, the overall speed will kill them against teams with a powerful spread attack. The group was very consistent stopping the run and their blitzing schemes seemed to work against North Dakota, but when asked to cover the pass, it was a different story.

Though the backers knew the assignments and covered the middle of the field fairly well, it was obvious the team lacks the speed to cover even a lower Division I team’s slot receiver. Recruiting over the last few years should take care of this problem in the future, but for this season it will be interesting to watch this upper classman group.

The biggest question mark surrounded the secondary, outside of Potts, on this Red Raider team. Boasting an elite, three year shut down corner in Sr Jamar Wall, the secondary then lacks to find experience at any other position with no other returning starters from last years squad.

It was redshirt freshman Cody Davis who had the most impressive outing out of the newcomers. His speed, hitting and knowledge on the field made this unit cohesive for the first half.

Although there were mistakes in coverage and a flag for a late hit, Davis definitely has the potential and ability, along with Wall, to shut down a side of the field on any given Saturday.

This game was sloppy for the Raiders and mistakes were being made across both sides of the field, but the talent is what won it for Tech on Saturday night. A lot of Tech fans went home Saturday worried and anxious for next Saturday’s game with Rice, now anticipating a lackluster season based on the performance against North Dakota.

Fans were hoping questions would be answered of Potts, the OL and the secondary, but as always with the first game, few questions were answered and little is known. As Leach said after the game, this was an above average performance. With film and work this week, this team can do better than what they showed on Saturday.