Red Raiders looking for better showing against ASU
The challenge is so much greater this week.
Days after Texas Tech crushed Stephen F. Austin 69-17 to win its season opener, the Red Raiders turn their attention to Arizona State.
The two meet at 9 p.m. Sept. 10 on Fox Sports 1.
“It’ll be a step up in competition, that’s for sure, and we’ll have to play well,” Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury said.
The Sun Devils beat Northern Arizona 44-13 thanks to 180 passing yards and 89 rushing yards and a score by dual-threat quarterback Manny Wilkins. Tim White caught nine passes for 95 yards.
ASU coach Todd Graham was pleased with the effort of his quarterback.
“We wanted to run the football, and I think (Wilkins) made some good decisions when he did run the ball,” the coach said. “I think for his first game, he learned a lot and I think he did a solid job. His poise was what I was most impressed with. The way that he communicated … was really impressive. We have to get better at every single area and so does everybody else, but I feel really good with where we are at. We never had too much panic or any negativity, and I really liked Manny’s leadership. He has a lot of tools.”
“I think Coach Graham has evolved on both sides of the ball, and we have, too,” Kingsbury said. “They’ll be tough to stop. We can’t let them get outside and make plays.”
Tech quarterback Patrick Mahomes was superb in the season opener. He completed 30 of 43 passes for 483 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for 57 yards and two scores.
Not only did six receivers have 47 or more receiving yards, the team had 10 plays of 20 yards or more. In all Tech had 758 yards of total offense and receivers caught 48 balls for 633 yards and five touchdowns. The starters were pulled in the third quarter.
Still, Kingsbury said he didn’t see the team play the way it had in practice.
“Maybe it was just nerves, first game-type jitters, but it wasn’t us, so we need to get that fixed this week and on Saturday play a much smoother, much more poised game,” he said.
Kingsbury is looking for improved play from the offensive line after seeing Mahomes take hits in trying to get away from tacklers. He also wants to see receivers block better and anticipates a better showing against the Sun Devils.
“It’s good to have a quarterback that can make plays and extend plays,” he said.
Graham noted the Red Raiders execute their Air Raid offense perfectly. And that’s what makes defending Mahomes such a challenge.
“He really understands the system, he’s big, he’s hard to tackle, he has a very quick release and they spread you all over the place,” he said. “Obviously the strength of their team is their offense and their ability to score points, and so it’ll be a big challenge.”
