| Texas Tech Pass Offense vs. Sam Houston State Pass Defense | |
| Texas Tech | |
| Texas Tech should have a pretty nice advantage here as there appear to be so many weapons. The key will be replacing the one guy that was fantastic last year, Bradley Marquez. That statement probably short-changes Jakeem Grant, as he was also awfully good, but Marquez made the offense zip when he was moved to the Z-receiver. I like Texas Tech’s chances with Jakeem Grant, Ian Sadler, a guy that we just haven’t talked about this year, and Devin Lauderdale. I think the Red Raiders have too many weapons here and even despite having offensive problems last ear, this was still the 5th bes passing offense last year. | |
| Sam Houston State | |
| SHSU was the 85th best FCS team last year in passing yards allowed. I think they definitely employ the “bend but don’t break” idea of pass defense, while they rely on big plays by the defensive line and cornerbacks. They had 14 interceptions as a team, so they do turn the ball over. I don’t envision a situation where the Bearkats have enough defensive backs to keep pace here. Trenier Orr (5-11/180), CB Darion Flowers (6-0/195) and CB Mikell Everette (5-11/185) are all good sized defensive backs, so this shouldn’t be a situation where Texas Tech will greatly outsize their opponent. | |
| ADVANTAGE: | Texas Tech |
| Texas Tech Rush Offense vs. Sam Houston State Rush Defense | |
| Texas Tech | |
| Returning four out of five offensive linemen and it currently appears that Texas Tech may start four seniors and one junior along the offensive line. Not only that, but Texas Tech has DeAndre Washington returning, who was the best back that Texas Tech has had in quite some time and Justin Stockton to spell Washington. Not only that, but when Texas Tech runs 20 personnel with Quinton White, he’s as explosive as anyone else on the team. Should be fun. | |
| Sam Houston State | |
| Sam Houston State was 77th in the nation last year and I think that the general defensive philosophy is the same. Make big plays, but be okay with giving up some yards, but they do make some big plays. If my math is correct, I think SHSU had close to 110 tackles for loss. For comparison purposes, Texas Tech had 64, so there is no doubt that the Bearkats fly around the ball and they make plays behidn the line of scrimmage. Myke Chatman and Tristan Eche both return at linebacker and the entire defensive line return, led by P.J. Hall | |
| ADVANTAGE: | Texas Tech |
| Texas Tech Pass Defense vs. Sam Houston State Pass Offense | |
| Texas Tech | |
| Not sure how I feel about thinking that it’s close here with an FCS team and this defense. Hope means a lot, but we need to see it first and foremost. I think that SHSU is a fast-paced team, so we should see how good the depth actually is. For now, I think Texas Tech will have a slight advantage as Johnson isn’t the best passer, but he’s such a good athlete that he can make the easy throws and then burn you with his feet. Texas Tech does return everyone from the defensive backfield, plus all of the back-ups. Fingers crossed. | |
| Sam Houston State | |
| As mentioned above, Jared Johnson isn’t the best passer, but he’s not bad. He’s great at the short stuff, including Louis Yedidah (5-8/180), who caught 71 passes for 803 yards and WR Ladarius Brown (6-2/215), who caught 45 passes for 807 yards. The difference here is that Yedidah averages about 11 yards a catch, while Brown goes for almost 18 yards a catch. SHSU can move the ball, but they were still 70th overall. | |
| ADVANTAGE: | Texas Tech |
| Texas Tech Rush Defense vs. Sam Houston State Rush Offense | |
| Texas Tech | |
| I have no expectations here and I hope to be pleasantly surprised. A slimmed down Rika Levi and true freshman Breiden Fehoko and then Keland McElrath to be paired with Marcus Smith. Seniors Branden Jackson and Pete Robertsons setting the edge and I think there’s something here and I’m pretty excited about the possibilities. I’m also encouraged about all of the talk of filling your gap and not trying to do too much. the concept of trusting your teammates seems to be a foreign one for this team, and if Micah Awe is as good as his preseason has been to go along with the resurgent Kris Williams and Malik Jenkins, then maybe there’s something here. | |
| Sam Houston State | |
| Sam Houston State loses their best rusher, but I’m a bit concerned abou facing Jalen Overstreet (6-2/210) originally a Texas signee who has found new life at SHSU. Overstreet only averaged 45 yards a game, but SHSU can run the ball and they do it very well. Add in Jard Johnson, who ran the ball 45 yards a game and there’s some real threats here, not to mention Doavan Williams (6-2/215), another big running back that could cause some real problems. And when I say that Sam Houston State is good at running the ball, they were good for 9th in the nation at 242 yards a game. They’ll run the danged ball. | |
| ADVANTAGE: | Sam Houston State |
| Texas Tech Special Teams vs. Sam Houston State Special Teams | |
| Texas Tech | |
| This is my least favorite item to preview during the course of a preview, but it shouldn’t be. Jakeem Grant and Justin Stockton should be returning kicks and Stockton should be much better this year than his average of 16 yards a return. That’s not good enough. As a group, that was only good for 117th in the nation. The same thing goes for Batson, who averaged just a shade under 4 yards a punt return, which was 122nd in the nation. Texas Tech should be fine punting the ball and I hope that Taylor Symmank never sees the field, while the kicking duties appear to be down to Clayton Hartfield and Michael Barden. Overall, I didn’t think this was a good enough group. I thought they should have been better. | |
| Sam Houston State | |
| Sam Houston State had issues as well. Only 121st in punt returns, 84th in kick off returns. The Bearcats were pretty good at covering punts, 4th in the nation and 30th in kickoff return defense. | |
| ADVANTAGE: | Push |
The Tally
I’ve got Texas Tech favored in three categories, with Sam Houston State favored in one and a push with the special teams.