Texas Tech Football: Can the Red Raiders Find a Win in the Next 3 Weeks?

The 2010 Red Raiders are 4-3 overall and 2-3 in Big 12 play coming into the ninth week of the season. 

Wins over SMU, New Mexico, Baylor and a comeback win last week on the road at Colorado are hardly the stuff championships are made of, but in a transitory year every win is something to cherish.

Regardless of how you interpret the wins and losses so far, the next three weeks will be very telling for a Texas Tech squad that has managed to struggle in every aspect of the game on multiple occasions this season.

How good is Texas Tech? 

Can the Red Raider “D” manage to stop a quality opponent in every quarter of a ball game?  Can the offense ever click for more than a couple of series?  Has the special teams unit hit its lowest point and are they truly on the way back from the depths of despair?

Or, how bad is Tech?

Is the defense just young, burdened with key injuries and incapable of really shutting down opponents?  Is the NASCAR offense basically ineffective or has the Red Raider staff not fully committed to any one offensive scheme since Tech took the field September 5 vs. SMU?  And, is the special teams unit just one touch away from another disaster?

Well, like it or not, we’re about to find out the answer to all these questions and probably some more. Tech's upcoming schedule:

October 30 at Texas A&M

November 6 vs. Missouri in Lubbock

November 13 at Oklahoma

Most Texas Tech fans probably don’t want to have that list handy outside of their therapist’s office.

While Tommy Tuberville and company can bask in the well-deserved afterglow of their comeback win at Colorado this past Saturday, the looming question of what to do next is on every Red Raider’s mind.

Let’s briefly break it down:

Texas A&M

The Aggies dropped three straight games to quality teams before trouncing a struggling Jayhawk team on the road 45-10 last weekend.

The Aggies replaced starting QB Jerrod Johnson in the second quarter with Ryan Tannehill, who has spent most of his career in College Station as a wide receiver.  Tannehill went 12/16 for 155 yards and three touchdowns on Saturday.

Texas A&M is ranked No. 10 nationally in passing yards and No. 49 in rushing yards. On defense they are No. 73 against the pass and ninth against the run.

The Red Raiders will have to click well, early and often—both offensively and defensively—to manage a win against the Aggies this Saturday. 

Two or three stops and two or three good drives won’t get it done in College Station.  Texas A&M is a good team that came into 2010 with a lot of fanfare and promise—they won’t fall easily.

Missouri

The Tigers are currently No. 6 in the BCS rankings and fresh off a monumental win over then-No. 1 Oklahoma.

Missouri will face No. 14 Nebraska next weekend before travelling to Lubbock to face the Red Raiders on November 6 at the Jones.

The Tigers are No. 16 in passing yards and No. 79 in rushing yards.  Defensively, they rank No. 62 against the pass and are No. 22 against the run.

Texas Tech is 2-2 vs. Missouri in Lubbock.

Besides wins over a solid Illinois team, at Texas A&M and vs. Oklahoma, the Tigers have registered wins over McNeese State, San Diego State, Miami (OH) and Colorado.

Missouri is assuredly the real deal, but if Tech can find a way to start playing offense early and manage some pass defense, they might have a chance vs. the Tigers.

This is Tech’s only home game in the three game stretch. The Red Raiders will need to look at Missouri not as a game to survive, but as where they can find an unexpected but necessary win.

Will it take trickery (minus any onside kicks)?  Who knows, but it will take zero mistakes and solid execution.

Oklahoma

Despite the Sooners’ disappointing loss at Missouri last weekend, Oklahoma is still the front-runner for the Big 12 South crown.

OU will host Colorado and then travel to Texas A&M before welcoming the Red Raiders to Norman for the ninth time in history.

Oklahoma is No. 12 nationally in passing yards and No. 65 in rushing. The Sooner “D” is No. 78 against the pass and No. 54 against the run.

Surprisingly, OU ranks below both the Aggies and Tigers defensively.

Texas Tech is 1-7 in Norman and has never beaten a Bob Stoops-coached team at Memorial Stadium.

The 2010 edition of the Sooners are a team that can be beaten, so the question really is: are the Red Raiders a team that can put together and execute a game plan that can knock off Stoops and company in Norman?

History tell us no.  But football history was written to be rewritten by brave young men who refuse to believe that overwhelming odds are insurmountable.

All three of these teams (A&M, Mizzou and OU) feature formidable passing units with defenses that are more effective against the run than the pass. 

Other than offensive passing yards, they all have superior statistical resumes to that of the Red Raiders.

Texas Tech will have to find a way to pass the ball successfully, consistently and relentlessly to beat any of these teams.  Running the ball effectively certainly won’t hurt, but it doesn’t seem like the Pistol set will be the deciding factor in these contests.

To avoid another costly slow start, the Red Raiders must commit to an offensive scheme early enough for it to be effective for a full 60 minutes.  They will need every tick of the clock.

Defensively, the Red Raiders will have to try to not put the offense in a hole early in the game (Tech has been outscored 59-49 in the first quarter) and then finish strong (they have been outscored 55-41 in the fourth quarter).

With the youth and injuries defensively, substitutions will be key to keeping the energy level constant and the pressure on.

Texas Tech has shocked good teams before, but evidently, the 2010 edition of the Red Raiders hasn't inspired the kind of confidence that makes an upset easy to believe in.

That said, this is a Texas Tech squad that at moments has seemed capable of much more.  Flashes of offensive production and defensive firepower make the football enthusiast wonder what would happen if it all came together at once for 60 full minutes of football.

Texas Tech shouldn’t wait for Weber State to roll into town on November 20 to start thinking about win number five and then win number six the following week when the Red Raiders host a steadily improving (though quarterback-impoverished) Houston Cougar squad.

The Red Raiders need to find a win in the next three weeks if they want to be considered a team worthy of bowl eligibility and postseason play.

“Showing up” and “not getting kicked around too bad” simply won’t cut it.  This team and program is better than that and now it is time to hit the field and prove it.

Leach is gone, Tuberville is here.

Let’s get over it, execute for a full 60 minutes and win some big games.