Texas Tech preparing undefeated West Virginia
A week after losing to Kansas State 44-34, Texas Tech attempts to get back on the winning track against West Virginia.
The game kicks off at 11 a.m. Oct. 15 on FS1.
The Mountaineers (4-0, 1-0) had two weeks to prepare for the Red Raiders (3-2, 1-1).
Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury said he is impressed with the Mountaineers on both sides of the ball.
West Virginia is led by quarterback Skyler Howard, who ranks fourth in passing yards in the Big 12 at 1,272 yards and seven touchdowns on 98 completions. Running back Justin Crawford is fifth in rushing yards average with 83 yards per contest.
Kingsbury said Mountaineers coach Dana Holgorsen has a done a good job of adapting to his personnel in creating an offense that relies on strong offensive linemen for the run game, an accurate quarterback and speedy receivers. Kingsbury noted the Mountaineers called 57 run plays against his team last year.
“Dana does a good job week end and week out trying to take advantage of what you’re doing defensively,” he said. “I think they’re a good team.”
Kingsbury credited West Virginia defensive coordinator Tony Gibson for how well the Mountaineers are playing defense, noting he mixes up the plays to try to confuse quarterbacks such as dropping eight players into coverage to take away places to throw.
“He is one of the best in the country at playing spread offenses,” Kingsbury said. “Schematically they do a good job of trying to take away what you’re good at. It’ll be a big challenge. Last year we weren’t very physical, and they got after us. We need to be up to the challenge this year.”
West Virginia ranks third in the Big 12 in scoring defense at 20 points per game, third in pass defense at 227.2 yards per game, and third in total defense in allowing 419 yards per game.
Texas Tech quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who suffered a shoulder injury against Kansas Oct. 1, was the starting quarterback during the loss to Kansas State eight days later. Kingsbury commended the youngster for his play. He completed 45 of 62 passes for 504 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
Kingsbury said Mahomes’ shoulder was getting tired, but he played through it.
“He kept battling and gave us a chance to win,” he said. “He pushed it this past week. A lot of guys wouldn’t want to play, he wanted to play and threw it well. So it’ll continue to get better and better.”
Kingsbury noted the Raiders left too many plays on the field, didn’t handle KSU’s pressure well in the second half that led to a Wildcats defensive touchdown, and gave up a special teams touchdown the proved to be the differences in the contest.
He said Tech must do better on execution, especially in third and short.
“I think there’s a lot of gray area,” the coach said. “We have to do a better job of tightening up. Some of those plays aren’t designed for linemen to be down the field; they were down the field. We need to clean that up.”
