On Saturday afternoon Texas Tech will face off against No. 12 Oklahoma State for the 42time since 1935. With a win over Oklahoma State, Texas Tech will be bowl eligible for the 23rd time in the last 25 seasons. The Red Raiders are coming off a 63-27 loss at Oklahoma last week to snap a two-game winning streak.
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Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury said there is a prescription to cure his team’s recent ills.
The Cowboys are finding ways to grind out close football games as seven points or fewer have decided three of Oklahoma State’s last four wins. Texas Tech plans a moment of silence before the game and has asked fans to avoid using “Wreck ‘Em”, as a regular hashtag for the football team. The people were killed when a auto crashed into the parade.
Walsh is part of a two-quarterback system that has worked out well for the Cowboys, who rank 11th nationally at 40.3 points per game.
Texas Tech (5-3, 2-3) has been particularly prolific in Lubbock, averaging 61.5 points and scoring 50 or more in four home games for the first time since 2005. Add 301 more yards and three touchdowns from sophomore Justin Stockton and the Red Raiders, a team not traditionally known for its rushing offense, have the Cowboys beat on the ground. “Why would you pass it?” he said. “But if we get stops and just play defense, that’s how we’re going to get our wins this year”. Oklahoma’s defense, led by senior linebacker Eric Striker (38 tackles, six sacks) and junior linebacker Dominique Alexander (58 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss) ranks third in the FBS in sacks per game (3.6) and seventh in interceptions (1.6). Ogbah’s 10 sacks during his sophomore campaign earned the defensive end the 2014 Big 12 Defensive Lineman of the Year award, which is awarded based on votes from coaches within the conference. “They have a great front”.
In Mason Rudolph and J.W. Walsh, Oklahoma State has two very effective quarterbacks who both play crucial roles in the team’s success.
“Key number: 26 â” the number of penalties between both teams in last season’s matchup. “They’ve been tremendous”, he said, adding that coaches have done a good job of choosing.
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MAHOMES FACTOR: Though he had his lowest passing yardage of the season (233) last week against Oklahoma, Mahomes can light it up on the ground and through the air. The Cowboys know he’s going to be hard to defend. “He doesn’t get shaken up”. “We watched film on them a little bit, because they do a few of the same stuff, but I try not to think much about what I did last year, because it’s a new year”. Texas Tech has gotten points 86 percent of the time, 59 percent of those as TDs.
