This afternoon the Texas Tech Spring road show continued with the Red Raiders heading to Frisco for their second scrimmage at the The Star. The facility is as nice as advertised with all the amenities that you would expect from Jerry Jones, yes even the art installations are worth a look. Overall this was a great showing for everyone related to Texas Tech, the crowd was lively and the stadium looked to be mostly full.
I’m not sure how many recruits were actually at the scrimmage however based on walking around before, during and after it is safe to say that there were well over 45/50 recruits there. For the recruits that were there it had to have been a good experience as the Red Raider faithful were out in force. There was a good showing from the DFW Red Raiders however I was surprised by the number of West Texas and other out of town Red Raiders that showed up for a scrimmage.
Here are my five points from the scrimmage:
1.) It was fairly sloppy.
The offensive line started did their part to stall the first drive by having multiple false starts. After the first series the defensive line picked up the slack with several offsides penalties and illegal hands to the face calls. Penalties aside I hope that whoever the starting QB is can get the ball out quickly because the defense seemed to have plenty of success with the rush. Brandon Jones has his work cut out for him because this offensive line is raw. The running backs contributed in the screen game but the running game still didn’t look great.
2.) QBs and WRs are on the same page
The depth of the Texas Tech quarterback and wide receiving corps’ were on full display Saturday afternoon. This shouldn’t be surprising to anyone but it was reassuring to see each of the quarterbacks making quick reads and showing some escapability. I was especially impressed with how big Shimonek, Sullens and Carter are. It was noticable how much thinner Xavier Martin is than the rest of the quarterback corps. It was nice to see Shimonek hook up with Derrick Willies on this touchdown:
Touchdown Red Raiders! Shimonek scans the field and hits Willies in the back of the endzone! 26-17, Red. #WreckEm pic.twitter.com/qaPpdjyA4B
— Texas Tech Football (@TexasTechFB) April 1, 2017
Tony Brown also showed off his wheels today with a great catch and run from Shimonek:
Touchdown Red Raiders! Shimonek rolls out & finds Tony Brown, who takes it to the house! 1 point plus a 3-point TD bonus makes it 13-8 Red. pic.twitter.com/fHRVo6KI1m
— Texas Tech Football (@TexasTechFB) April 1, 2017
Overall Shimonek was 26-33 for 273 and 3 touchdowns with no interceptions. It was definitely a better showing for the offensive 1s this week.
3.) The team looks bigger and faster
I believe in Coach Whitt and what he’s doing because this team looked bigger and faster than they did when I saw them against Baylor last year. I was especially happy to see the that the defensive line was capable of getting push into the offensive backfield. It’s been a few years since the defensive looked like they were flying around and doing things on all three levels and today they looked like a competent defense. I’m by no means happy with some of the big plays but this defense looks more talented and better than what was on the field last year.
4.) The defense might have lost on the field but they won the pre game hype portion
The defense and offense both had hype videos before the game. They dropped the lights in The Star and played the following videos:
The defense was up first with this:
Up 1-0 and looking for the spring sweep, the defense takes the field. #WreckEm pic.twitter.com/CwNHzwVbyQ
— Texas Tech Football (@TexasTechFB) April 1, 2017
Next up was the offense:
Here comes the offense, and we're ready to roll! #WreckEm pic.twitter.com/mU37BrZ2W9
— Texas Tech Football (@TexasTechFB) April 1, 2017
I gave the defense the edge because it couldn’t have been easy finding highlights from the worst defensive season in school history.
5.) Kliff is walking around more
It was good to see Kliff walking around and talking to both the offense and the defense. He was definitely more involved with the defense than he has been in past seasons. This might constitute me drinking the kool aid but I think the defense in years past has felt a bit neglected by the team. I hope Kliff walking around more and increasing his interactions with the defense will pay off in a few ways. The defense should step up their game because they’re getting feedback and interaction with the HC. I think this might have a more positive effect on the recruiting trail. Would you want to go to team where you felt like a second class player? The evolution of Kliff and as a head coach continues and I think this season could be his most complete yet.
Highlights
Take a look at the video of the highlights from the scrimmage below.
Here are the highlights from this afternoon's spring game at @TheStarInFrisco. #WreckEm pic.twitter.com/Z2ii81j0qL
— Texas Tech Football (@TexasTechFB) April 1, 2017
Wrap Up
This was a good showing for the whole university. It was great to see so many people out there supporting the Red Raiders after a 5-7 season that left a lot to be desired. The defense is showing some life and the offense found a better rhythm than they did last week. Overall this was a successful weekend for the Red Raiders, the team is still rough around the edges but the talent appears to be in place to have a winning season.