Texas Tech Football Notebook: Key Players; A Sneak Peek Into the Offense

Still no post-practice videos. I’m definitely disappointed they haven’t been posted, but can’t really do much about it.

Dallas Morning News’ Ryan “Main Man Money” Mainville has his 10 key Texas Tech players for 2021 and here’s the blurb on one of the ten players:

Marquis Waters
Senior DB / 6-1, 215 pounds

2020 stats (Duke): 71 total tackles, 7.0 tackles for loss, 2 INT, 7 pass breakups

Breakdown: Matt Wells has proven how much he values experience when recruiting from the transfer portal, and Waters is the perfect example of that. Waters has started in 34 of his last 36 collegiate games and has totaled 2,584 snaps played over the last three seasons combined. That’s a lot of football. The experience becomes an even greater asset when you consider his prior experience playing under Tech’s current co-defensive coordinator — Derek Jones. Waters has the skills to be one of the top safeties in the Big 12, and could fill a vital hole for the Red Raiders’ defense.

Plainview Herald’s Nathan Giese writes about the Texas Tech offense and what we might see in 2021:

“It’s fun to be able to run different positions and being able to go inside and play a position where Dalton (Rigdon) and Myles Price, they play all the time and being able to play that position, it’s kind of like, wow, it’s kind of different here but I like it,” said Ezukanma.

Burger noted that for the offensive line, there isn’t a ton of difference between Cumbie’s system and the one run by former OC David Yost. The biggest change is the assignments.

“The scheme changed, but from a technical standpoint it’s similar,” said Burger.

Koontz joined Ezukanma’s excitement for the change in offensive philosophy, especially for one that involves the tight ends a bit more.

“We’re just more involved, different formations,” said Koontz. “It’s not just set in stone, like this play, this play, this play. We’re just more diverse, let’s put it that way.”

Ezukanma said that more offensive players will get involved this season. The question right now is who will be the quarterback to orchestrate the new offense and live up to what the wide receiver feels like could be a really good team?

Sign me up for diversity and variety on offense.

24/7 Sports’ Brandon Marcello has his Big 12 predictions and he really isn’t high on Texas Tech:

Wells needs a winning season in the worst way. He’s 8-14 in his tenure and faces a bit of a rebuilding project this fall with a depth chart that is lacking, umm, depth. Receivers Ja’Lynn Polk and KeSean Carter and first-team All-Big 12 offensive guard Jack Anderson are gone. The anchor of the secondary, cornerback Zech McPhearson, is also gone. Wells hired Sonny Cumbie to run the offense after the always-explosive Tech offense failed to average more than 30 points for the first time in 20 years. Meanwhile, the defense allowed 36.7 points per game. Yikes.

What happens in 2021? Insert shoulder shrug here.

Well, okay.

Also from the Morning News’ Mainville are the top 5 bold predictions including a big one:

4. Tech makes a bowl game for the first time since 2017
The Red Raiders have won eight combined football games the past two seasons. There have been inexplicable late-game collapses, an alarming amount of field goal mishaps, and brutal beat downs. The product of football has not been pretty. But despite the dread the last seasons have delivered, there’s a reason for optimism heading into the 2021 campaign.

There’s a lot of experience on the roster, a new face at quarterback, a revamped offensive scheme, and a ton of depth at key positions. This looks like a team that can get themselves to a bowl game, even if they stumble their way there.

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