Key #1: Contain Tune: Tune is definitely the straw that mixes the Houston offense’s drink. And before last week, I wasn’t sure what Texas Tech had, but now I’m more sure that the receiver room is fine. Size, speed, and skill are a game-changer and I’m not sure who covers 6’5″, 6’4″, 6’5, 6’8″, etc. Houston doesn’t have a small defensive backfield, but Alex Hogan is a 5’11” cornerback, Hasaan Hypolite is a 5’11” safety, Art Green is a 6’2″ cornerback, Gervarrius Owens is a 6’0″ safety, and Jayce Rogers is a 5’8″ nickelback. Loic Fouonji, Jerand Bradley, Cleveland, Teeter, Tharp, Cupp, etc. And last week, the best receiver, arguably, Myles Price, didn’t catch anything until the second half. Go down the line of receivers, whether it be wide receivers or tight ends and there’s no shortage of talented big players that can change the course of a game. I was listening to the Troy Aikman Show on The Ticket on my way into work and one of the things that he said was that your offense is as good as your 3rd receiver and maybe nowadays, that’s as good as your 4th receiver. Houston Offense: FEI doesn’t think that Texas Tech’s defense is for real (which is fine, I want to see it against better competition too) but the other metrics do slightly favor Texas Tech with the negative drives being the biggest discrepancy. The Houston offense is pretty balanced overall, maybe not excellent at running or passing, but top third in the nation. Houston Defense: The run efficiency for the offense probably needs more data is my guess (which could also be said about the data below) and find it strange that it ranks so low. The Tigers could be a top-6 team in the SEC next season or in the bottom-5 but because it’s a true road game, that automatically makes it a game the Red Raiders must take seriously.Advanced Stats: These two teams are about as even as you’ll see. Matt McMahon came over from LSU and added several transfers, mostly notably, KJ Williams from Murray State. They’re another program that completely changed over after firing head coach Will Wade. The other matchup in the schedule is in the Big 12/SEC Challenge on the road at LSU. It’s completely unknown how good they’ll but they can’t be any worse than they were a year ago. The Hoyas went winless in the Big East last season but have completely changed its entire roster, adding eight new transfers. The Red Raiders take on Georgetown at home in the Big East/Big 12 Challenge. So from a strength of schedule, perspective, Texas Tech beating Creighton will have plenty of consequences either way. This will be important as the Razorbacks are also a preseason top-15 team, whereas the Cardinals are a projected bottom-third ACC program. In the Invitational, they face the Creighton Bluejays, a preseason top-15 team in the first round, before taking on either Arkansas or Louisville in the second game. Two of them are conference challenges, with the other three coming in the MTE Maui Invitational. All of them are “buy games”, with none of them expected to be much of a challenge. Of the 13 non-conference games the Red Raiders can schedule, eight of them are fully in their control. It’s usually 1-2 top-50 opponents, surrounded by a bunch of “buy games” from state of Texas D-I foes. Whether it’s Chris Beard when he was the head coach or now Mark Adams at the helm, Texas Tech Basketball has historically had fairly easy non-conference schedules. Texas Tech Basketball doesn’t normally have the strongest non-conference schedules but did they improve on the competition this year? By Tristan Freeman 1 month ago Follow Tweet
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