Texas Tech Red Raiders

NCAAF – BIG 12

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Texas Tech Football Team

The Red Raiders are coming off their second consecutive four-win campaign under head coach Matt Wells and have a lot of holes to fill, especially on offense. Texas Tech had some key losses due to the transfer portal but might also have found a new quarterback through the same process.

Most of the receiving corps from last season was lost for a variety of reasons, but their leading pass catcher, junior Erik Ezukanma, is back from 2020, though he is still recovering from a broken arm suffered during spring practice. They’ll need to play much better as a team in 2021 if they want to make a move into the top half of the conference standings.

Texas Tech Red Raiders Standings

The Texas Tech Red Raiders have been a top-performing team in the NCAAF for several seasons.

Their current standings reflect their consistent excellence, with impressive stats in both offense and defense. With a talented roster and dedicated coaching staff, the Red Raiders are a force to be reckoned with.

Fans of Texas Tech football can expect another exciting season from this top-performing team.

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2020 Texas Tech Red Raiders Season Summary

More was expected from Texas Tech than a 4-6 overall record and 3-6 in the conference, although the lack of two winnable non-conference games kept them from becoming bowl eligible. Offensively, they were barely in the top half of the FBS in scoring with 29 points a game but gave up an average of 36.7 points, 109th out of 128 FBS schools.

Oklahoma lit them up for 62 points, and Texas Tech gave up 50 points to Oklahoma State, although they played a close game against the Cowboys, scoring 44 points of their own. The Red Raiders were 99th in the FBS in total defense, giving up 445 yards a game, and were also ranked 116th in turnover margin, giving up the ball nine more times than they were able to take it away from their opponents.

Key Players

Ezukanma will be relied upon to anchor a group of otherwise unproven receivers for a new starting quarterback, most likely the junior transfer from Oregon, Tyler Slough. The junior wide receiver led the Red Raiders a year ago with 46 receptions for 748 yards and six touchdowns, with his 16.3 average yards per catch critical for Texas Tech’s offense to produce some big plays.

The Red Raiders spread the rushing duties around in 2020, but SaRodorick Thompson was the workhorse, running for 610 yards on 109 carries. His contribution will be critical for the offense to be able to control the ball and keep their still suspect defense off the field.

Collin Schooler is one of four seniors on the linebacker corps, and he led the team in sacks with 3.5 and was second in tackles with 63. He will need to demonstrate leadership along with the rest of the linebacking crew to keep pressure off a secondary that returns just one starter from last year’s secondary.

New Additions

Quarterback Tyler Slough brings a lot of experience and success from his time with the Ducks, including a Pac-12 title. While the starting position is still up for grabs, he appears to have an edge in the competition and will need to produce early for Texas Tech to get out of the gate quickly.

Second-team All-Big 12 offensive tackle T.J. Scorment transferred in from TCU and should be able to add strength and stability to the offensive line that returns starters up the middle of the unit. For a team that finished 64th in rushing yardage in 2020, the offensive line will need to play well to improve that statistic.

Duke transfer Marquis Waters will fill a hole at safety, bringing more experience to the position alongside returning senior Eric Monroe.

Key Subtractions

Cornerback Zech McPhearson, who led the Red Raiders in interceptions with four and was selected first-team All-Big 12, was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the fourth round and left a gap in the Texas Tech secondary.

Starting quarterback Alex Bowman had a good season in 2020 with the third-best completion percentage (64.7) in the conference. He also threw for 10 touchdowns but countered that with seven interceptions before transferring to Michigan for a year of graduate school.

Wide receiver KeSean Carter, Texas Tech’s second-leading receiver in 2020 with 30 catches and four touchdowns, transferred from the program, along with Ja’Lynn Polk, who contributed with 28 receptions and a pair of scores.

Big 12 Conference Outlook

Oklahoma has won the last six Big 12 titles, and there is little reason, after they ran the table in their final eight games of 2020, to assume that they can’t make a serious run at their seventh in a row. Texas has a new head coach in Steve Sarkisian, who comes over to the Longhorns after leading Alabama’s offense following head coaching stints at USC and Washington. Texas has been a sleeping giant for many years, and it remains to be seen if Sarkisian can bring the program back to national prominence.

After a solid but a bit disappointing year, Oklahoma State looks to get better while last year’s top regular-season team, Iowa State, tries to gain some successful continuity under head coach Matt Campbell after losing in the Big 12 championship game to Oklahoma.

Texas Tech Offense

The Red Raiders need to find a replacement for Bowman at quarterback, whether it’s newcomer Slough or last year’s very good backup, Henry Colombi, who can achieve a better touchdown-to-interception ratio. They also need to limit turnovers and simply find a way to generate more offense in a league that puts up a lot of points.

Having a healthy Ezukanma available is important, as well as having the new starters contribute early to take the pressure off the signal-callers. Overall, the offensive line play will be critical for Texas Tech to challenge the top teams in the Big 12, especially if they are to make improvements in the running game.

Texas Tech Defense

Although the team is talented and deep at linebacker, the rest of the defense is littered with transfers and needs to come together if the Red Raiders want to improve. In addition to the key losses mentioned earlier, they lost defensive end Eli Howard and his 16.5 career sacks to graduation.

No one on the two-deep chart at cornerback has been a starter for a unit that ranked 101st in the FBS in passing yardage allowed in 2020. The defensive unit, led by the linebackers, has to demonstrate marked improvement either schematically or talent-wise early on, as they open with Houston on Sept. 4.

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Texas Tech FAQs

Has Texas Tech ever won a Big 12 championship?

No.

When was Texas Tech’s last winning season?
2015, when they went 7-5 in the regular season and lost in the Texas Bowl for an overall finish to 7-6. 
When was Texas Tech’s last winning record in the Big 12?
They had a 5-3 record in the Big 12 in 2009 
When did Texas Tech last win a conference title?
1994 in the Southwest Conference
Who is the winningest coach in East Carolina history?
Mike Leach, with 84 wins from 2000-2009