As the calendar officially turns to November, the Texas Tech week 10 opponent is themselves. The open week comes at a critical time, it ain’t no lie. Yes, I am doing this tonight, and some readers might want to start a fight. But the Red Raiders do not want to see you out that door; they want to extend this season. So what issues can Texas Tech focus on before Iowa State comes to town?
Cumbie’s Message “Might Sound Crazy But It Ain’t No Lie”
Interm head coach Sonny Cumbie had a rough opening week in charge of this Red Raider football team. After seeing where Oklahoma opened in the college football playoff rankings, it’s probably for the best Texas Tech wasn’t facing the Sooners after the bye week. And yes, Texas Tech now has two top-15 ranked teams remaining on its schedule. However, here is the reality, Texas Tech has a very winnable game next week.
Iowa State has shown that last year’s season appears to have been a bit of an outlier and was more overachievement than sustainability. Cumbie is going to pour everything he can into this team to extend this season. This was apparent last week. When the game entered the 4th quarter against Oklahoma, and the game was all but out of hand, the cameras caught Cumbie rallying the team together. Without seeing the scoreboard, any fans tuning in late to this one would have thought the team was on the brink of a massive update. If the Red Raiders can secure win six against Iowa State, was so crazy about stacking good momentum with another home game against Oklahoma State the following week. After all, the Red Raiders have been the Pokes two of the last three seasons.
It Is Donovan’s Time
Henry Colombi was Matt Wells‘ guy. And Colombi has had his fair share of moments to buoy this team after the starting quarterback has been seriously injured in two consecutive seasons. But for this Texas Tech week 10 opening, Cumbie has to use this opportunity to give Donovan Smith all of the QB1 reps. Getting his first extended playing time last week after Colombi was injured, Smith had different snap-shots through the game where it was clear Smith possesses natural athleticism that Colombi does not. The 6’3 230 lbs redshirt freshman quarterback can be more than just the specialty quarterback.
However, the great unknown is the status of Tyler Shough‘s collarbone. The initial timetable for returning this season was, at best, coming back next week against Iowa State. But there have yet to be any updates on if/when Shough will return. Shough is also still in a position that he could redshirt for the rest of this year since he only appeared in four games. It would give him three years of eligibility to either grow under the new coaching staff starting next season. Of course, Shough very well could say, “I’m checking out, I’m signing off. I don’t want to be the loser, and I’ve had enough” and possibly transfer again.
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Texas Tech Week 10 Bye Should Bring Stronger Performance
Based on some actual data it does appear that teams do, on average, play stronger out of the bye week. One would imagine that some rest and extra prep time for the opponent would be an advantage. Especially if the team has to play the week prior. Texas Tech needs to get the offensive line clicking. The rushing attack was limited last week. They still had multiple plays where proper stunt/blitz recognition prevent Smith from having a clean pocket to operate from. Defensively, they need to continue to stress stopping the run. Especially with Breece Hall coming to town. If Texas Tech wants to earn win number six next week, they are going to rest up and keep its seventh opponent under 100 rushing yards.
On top of the Red Raiders resting up this week, Iowa State has to play Texas before coming to Lubbock. Iowa State also has Oklahoma the week after traveling to Texas Tech. This would be a perfect opportunity to grab the Cyclones by the facemask and tell them “Don’t really want to make it tough. I just want to tell you…bye bye bye.”
